Restrictions ease ‘slightly’ for TLC
22 April 2020
Crews from The Lines Company (TLC) will start doing more work in the field from next week following the move to Alert Level 3.
TLC is considered an essential business and has been fully operational during the nationwide lockdown. All office staff, including the customer service team, have been working from home while line crews have been working on essential work only and with strict protocols in place.
Chief executive Sean Horgan said the move to Alert Level 3 would be a marginal change from Level 4”
“We will begin to carry out more field work such as routine line inspections and key construction projects however essential maintenance will still take priority” ” Horgan said.
“The work that we will restart under Level 3 are those projects that are time-critical and can be completed with minimal public interaction. For example, it’s important to complete work on parts of the network that supply dairy farms during the dairy farming off-season.”
“We know that this is a difficult time so we’ll do everything we can minimise the number of disruptions and the amount of time anyone is without power.”
Customers would get advance notice of any planned work and should sign-up via the company’s website for text or email updates to hear about planned work, earlier.
Horgan confirmed meter readers would also be able to read meters that are outside homes and businesses during Alert Level 3. But customers who don’t want a reader visiting their property can call the company and ask the reading be postponed.
“We will resume meter reading operations but if customers are concerned due to COVID-19 and don’t want us visiting their property , that’s fine. Just call us and let us know and we will use an estimate to determine their lines bill”.
At Alert Level 3, all TLC’s offices and depots will remain closed.