South Island storm response

The challenge

The October 2025 wind event delivered gusts peaking at 170 km/h across the South Island, leaving approximately 90,000 properties without power. A secondary front brought snow to southern parts of the region, and communities faced freezing temperatures without heating. Twenty-two cell towers subsequently failed in Southland, degrading telecommunications across the affected area.

For electricity distribution businesses, outage duration translates directly into regulatory exposure. Under Commerce Commission quality standards, SAIDI penalties escalate with every hour communities remain off supply, and sustained breaches carry significant financial consequences. Meanwhile, the Cook Strait ferry service ceased operations due to four-metre swells, fracturing the national just-in-time supply chain that most of the industry depends on.

Our approach

Meteorological models predicted the wind. They don’t predict the logistical collapse that follows. The trigger for the Connetics response was something no forecast can replicate – the institutional experience of our people.

National Supply Chain Manager Dan Batchelor recognised a pattern consistent with previous high-impact events and initiated a pre-emptive communications sweep on the Wednesday before landfall. Connetics contacted peer networks likely to be affected (PowerNet and MainPower) 72 hours before impact, establishing material requirements while telecommunications infrastructure was still operational.

This was possible because of a deliberate capital strategy. Where the modern supply chain prioritises just-in-time efficiency to reduce working capital, Connetics leadership has adopted a contrarian just-in-case approach – carrying inventory levels that significantly exceed industry norms.

Making it happen

PowerNet needed 15kVA transformers to restore rural connections. Connetics held suitable units within its safety stock. Dan contacted Orion directly to request their release. The approval was immediate – a transaction measured in minutes rather than days, reflecting a trust relationship that existed well before the crisis. Transformers were loaded onto trucks heading south without the administrative latency that often delays mutual aid between networks.

When the Cook Strait ferry service stopped and the national freight network seized, Connetics used its independent stockholding to air-freight 160 line guards from Wellington to Christchurch on a Sunday – bypassing the blockade entirely.

This is the difference between just-in-time and just-in-case. Rather than minimising stock to release cash (the standard model for wholesale competitors) Connetics uses its balance sheet strength to hold inventory as a strategic asset. That financial resilience creates a barrier that high-volume, low-margin supply models cannot replicate, and it proved decisive when the conventional supply chain failed.

The result

Communities across Southland got their power back sooner because materials were already moving before the full scale of the damage was known. For the networks we supported, that meant reduced SAIDI exposure, fewer hours of community hardship, and a faster path to full restoration.

The cost of carrying strategic inventory is negligible compared to the regulatory and economic cost of a prolonged outage. By combining capital redundancy, deep institutional experience, and high-trust partnerships, our supply chain provides a layer of commercial resilience that standard wholesale models cannot match.