Efforts to restore power to areas affected by severe weather conditions in Shetland were boosted this morning by the arrival of a further 15 power line crews at first light, with additional teams and equipment due over the next 24 hours.
Engineers arrived on the first ferry from the mainland and Orkney to assist local teams, with more crews leaving for Shetland throughout the course of today. In total, 125 additional engineers will support our local Shetland teams in the restoration effort.
As of 11.45am this morning, 2,800 customers remain off supply in Voe, Whalsay, Brae, Yell and the West Mainland. While we expect to make continued good progress over the next 24 hours, it remains likely that for some customers, particularly in West Mainland and parts of Voe, full restoration will extend to the end of this week. This is due to the extent of significant network damage caused by line icing, where snow and ice accumulate on overhead power lines and the huge additional weight causes them to break.
We continue to work very closely with Shetland Islands Council, the Care for People Group and the Local Resilience Partnership to ensure extra support is provided to those who need it through the coordination of welfare and the connection of mobile generation to power rest centres. Plans will be communicated later today.
We recognise that extended power outages are challenging for our customers and for those currently affected, we’re offering to reimburse reasonable food costs for a hot meal if customers can travel safely to areas with power. Customers are entitled to claim up to £30 per person for every 24 hours they’re without power and are asked to keep copies of their receipts.
For customers on our Priority Services Register without power and who are unable to make alternative arrangements to travel and stay with a family member or friend, we’re offering to reimburse reasonable costs for alternative accommodation. Anyone who may need support in arranging alternative accommodation should call our customer contact centre on 105.
Mark Macdonald, Head of Region at SSEN Distribution, said:
“Through great collaboration with resilience and travel partners, we’re getting teams, equipment, and large-scale generation on the island now to help us enact our restoration plan and make continued progress in restoring power to our customers. We’ve had 15 power line crews arrive on the first ferry this morning, with another 15 crews leaving tonight and many more expected to arrive by plane and helicopter to support our local teams.
“Now that it’s safe to fly, we’re organising helicopter patrols to fly our overhead lines and assess the extent of the damage, which will help us better target our restoration strategy.
“The welfare of our customers is vitally important to us and we’re offering to reimburse food costs for all customers currently without power and reasonable accommodation costs for customers on our Priority Services Register who are unable to make alternative arrangements. I’d continue to encourage anyone who has any concerns for themselves or others, particularly family members or neighbours who may need extra support, to give our teams a call on 105.
“We’d like to thank our customers for their continued patience as our teams battle challenging weather conditions to restore power as quickly as possible.”
We continue to monitor weather forecasts to assess the potential impact of further adverse weather conditions on our network.
The next update will be provided later today.
Compensation
Customers will be entitled to compensation under regulated Guaranteed Standards. This process is automatic and will be processed as quickly as possible in the weeks after the event. The amount of compensation due will vary according to how long a customer has been off supply and the extent of the weather-related incident, which is still being assessed. Further detail on the compensation process will follow alongside direct communication with customers.
Advice for customers
We are urging people not to approach any damaged equipment and instead, to report it by calling 105 or via our Power Track App and engineers will investigate as soon as possible.
Customers are also being encouraged to be prepared for the possibility of continued disruption to supplies by:
- Saving the emergency power cut number – 105 – to your phone to use if your power goes off, or if you see any damage to the electricity network
- Downloading SSEN’s Power Track app to give you details of power cuts and restoration times. You can also report power cuts and network damage through the Power Track app
- Going to SSEN’s website where there is a wealth of advice and information on how to prepare for a possible loss of power
- Following SSEN on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates
Priority Services Register
SSEN’s Priority Services Register (PSR) provides extra help and support during a power cut. Customers are eligible for our free priority services if they:
- Are deaf or hard of hearing
- Have a disability
- Live with children under five
- Are blind or partially sighted
- Have a chronic illness
- Use medical equipment/aids reliant on electricity
- Are over 60
- Temporarily need extra support
To find out more about the PSR, click here or call 0800 294 3259.
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