670 engineering and field staff continue to work round the clock to restore power supplies
SP Energy Networks CEO, Nicola Connelly, joined engineering teams in Dumfries & Galloway to see first-hand the massive storm response underway in the region to restore electricity supplies to just over 800 customers who remain without power (as at 5pm on 28 January).
Dumfries & Galloway was battered by hurricane speed winds from Storm Eowyn on Friday 24 January, with roads, transport and infrastructure bearing the brunt of the impact. Power supplies to more than 45,000 customers in the area were affected as a result of the storm damage.
Thanks to the incredible efforts of the response teams on the ground – and despite continued adverse weather and major road closures and accessibility issues hampering their ability to get out to properly assess the damage and start repair works – supplies have now been restored to more than 97% of these customers.
Dumfries & Galloway was one of the worst affected areas across the electricity network in central and southern Scotland, which saw power supplies to more than 206,000 customers impacted in total.
More than 99% of them are now back on supply – with most of those in the first 24 hours. The majority of those currently without power are in Dumfries & Galloway.
SP Energy Networks CEO, Nicola Connelly, joined engineering teams in Kelton working to repair a damaged pole and power lines serving local customers.
Nicola said: “There has been absolutely no let-up in our efforts since first thing on Friday to restore power as quickly and safely as possible to the thousands of customers affected by Storm Eowyn. We’ve used every resource at our disposal and drafted in people and resources from across the country – and other companies – to tackle every single fault and we’ve made positive progress, with more than 99% of our customers back on supply.
“We’re now in that final stretch to get all remaining customers back on. While the numbers off have reduced, we’re still managing almost 200 individual faults in Dumfries & Galloway alone.“That means, on average, we’re restoring a handful of customers at a time, which is one of the biggest challenges we have at this point in our response. Every customer back on supply is a step in the right direction, but every job takes time. Our teams are also continuing to face what’s called ‘nested’ faults – several faults on a single circuit, which only come to light when we fix the initial one.
“I’m grateful to our customers for their patience and resilience. We will not stop until the lights are back on for every single one of them.”
The electricity network in central and southern Scotland sustained more than 100 days’ worth of faults in under three days and call centre colleagues handled over 92,000 calls – taking three months’ worth of calls in four days.
Supporting customers has been at the heart of SP Energy Networks’ response to Storm Eowyn, from proactively sending 270,000 SMS messages to customers on the Priority Services Register to the welfare support being provided to the communities still without power, including warm hubs, food vans and hotel accommodation. More than 150 staff have been visiting the most vulnerable customers who remain without supply.
Within Dumfries and Galloway, SP Energy Networks is working with the Local Resilience Partnership to support local communities and give them access to somewhere warm to visit or stay and provide hot food and drinks. This includes a network of 11 warm hubs and food trucks in places where customers need them most.
More than 600 hotel rooms have been provided to give customers without power a warm place to stay, with access to hot food and drinks.
For those who have paid for their own accommodation and subsistence, information on how to submit a reimbursement claim is available on the SP Energy Networks website.
Customers without power for over 48 hours are entitled to compensation, with increased payments for those affected the most. Once power supplies have been restored to all affected properties, payments will be made to eligible customers automatically. There is no need for customers to contact us.
Full information on warm hubs and food locations, reimbursement and compensation can be found at: Adverse Weather Warning – SP Energy Networks
For anyone experiencing a new power cut, please report it by calling the free, national emergency helpline 105.
You don’t need to wait to speak to an agent – you can log faults via the automated messaging system.
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