On the evening of 2 October, the Gate City residential complex in Alatau was left without electricity for several hours. According to residents, the power went out at around 15:30 and was still off by nightfall, and nobody gave them a firm time for it to come back. Residents then made a public appeal to the authorities, as reported by Ulysmedia.kz.
For a buyer, the outage itself is not the main point: faults happen in any neighbourhood. What matters are two details residents mentioned in their appeal.
A building without gas depends entirely on electricity
Residents explained that gas cannot be used in the complex, so the kitchens are electric. When the power goes, the stove stops working, you cannot boil water or charge a phone, and working from home becomes impossible. Families with small children, residents said, had the hardest time.
An all-electric building is a perfectly sensible choice for a new development: it is safer and simpler to maintain. But it has one weak spot — the quality of the power supply. While the district’s grid is still being built out, interruptions hit daily life much harder than in a home with a gas stove.
Not the first time
In the summer, Gate City residents went out into the courtyard at night because there was no water. They said the cuts happened regularly, and on one occasion the water was off for almost a full day. In June, the President singled out the state of utilities in the former villages that became part of Alatau, including Koyankus: unstable internet, poor roads, no central water supply and frequent power cuts.
What is being done about the networks
In October we looked at the 28 infrastructure projects planned for 2026. Two of them concern Gate City: the sewage pumping station is already finished, and the district’s own water intake is due by the end of the year. On the power side, the key project — the upgrade of the Kokpa-1 substation — has been moved to the second quarter of 2027. Until then, spare capacity in the area will remain limited.
What to ask before you sign
If you are looking at an apartment in Gate City or any new block in Alatau, put these questions to the developer or seller:
- Who owns the networks? Are the building’s power and water lines still on the developer’s books, or have they been handed over to the city utilities? While the developer owns them, repairs and responsibility for faults depend on the developer.
- Permanent or temporary connection? Ask to see the technical conditions and the commissioning certificate for the networks.
- Which substation feeds the building, and is there a second supply line?
- Is there backup power — a generator or UPS for lifts, pumps and emergency lighting?
- How often were power and water cut over the past year? Ask not just the seller but also the neighbours in the building’s group chat.
- Who manages the building — a homeowners’ association (OSI) or a management company — and do residents have individual utility accounts?
What it means for the price
The outages are a temporary problem for a district whose networks are still being completed. Once the water intake is running and the substation is upgraded, things should improve. Until then, a buyer has a bargaining point, and a family with children has a reason to plan ahead for a long outage: a portable power station, a supply of drinking water and a thermos.
We will keep following the akimat’s official responses and the commissioning dates for the networks.
Source: Ulysmedia.kz — Alatau residents again face power and water cuts (in Russian)