Power was restored to all Upper Clutha customers by 8.45pm after Thursday’s (July 18) power outage, Aurora Energy says.

The unplanned outage happened at approximately 5.50pm and affected 1,168 households at its peak, although all but 75 households had their power back on by 7.30pm, Aurora Energy said.

“Our protection equipment operated due to a fault on a power pole near the intersection of Anderson Road and Mt Iron Drive in Wānaka,” an Aurora Energy spokesperson said.

A member of the public said she witnessed the power pole making sparks “like fireworks”.

“The sparks witnessed by a member of the public were due to electrical arcing (when electricity jumps from one connection to another) on the pole top connection,” the Aurora Energy spokesperson said.

“We would like to thank customers for their patience while we got their power restored and appreciate the inconvenience of this happening in the middle of winter and during the school holidays.”

PHOTO: Supplied