Storm Gerrit – 5:00pm update from SSEN Distribution

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Distribution has made sustained progress in restoring customers following the impact of Storm Gerrit.

As of 4.45pm this afternoon, supplies have been successfully restored to more than 40,000 customers, with just over 2,900 properties currently off supply. These are mainly due to faults which occurred later on Wednesday and in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Regional breakdown

Today’s improving conditions mean continued good progress has been made to reconnect thousands of people who lost supplies, and SSEN’s operational teams have been further bolstered by the arrival of additional line crews from contractors and other network operators through Wednesday and Thursday.

The extent of the damage, combined with flooding and access issues, means around 1,500 customers will remain off supply into Friday, mainly in the north east and Shetland.  SSEN’s customer service teams are calling affected customers to provide updated estimates of restoration and to check on their welfare.

SSEN continues to work closely with local resilience partners to coordinate welfare arrangements and identify customers who may benefit from additional support.  Customer service teams are also in regular contact with those on the Priority Services Register to give updates and offer support with alternative accommodation where necessary.

Welfare vans serving free hot food and drink will remain open until 8pm this evening in locations where work is ongoing to restore supplies. These can be found at the following locations:

* The Riggs car park, Fort Augustus, PH32 4DF
* Glengarry Parish Church, Invergarry, PH35 4HJ
* Dunecht Village Hall, Westhill, AB32 7AW
* Hatton of Fintray, Aberdeenshire, AB21 0YG
* The Square, Tarland, AB34 4YL
* Bellabeg, Strathdon (opposite the local shop) AB36 8UL
* The Public Hall, High Street, Sandhaven, Fraserburgh, AB43 7EQ
* Aberlour Parish Church car park, 7 Victoria Terrace, AB38 9PW
* The car park beside the football pitch, Halkirk, KW12 6YJ
* Bridge of Cally Village Hall, Braemar Road, PH10 7JL

The vans will reopen from 9am tomorrow morning.

As part of SSEN’s support package, customers who will be without power for more than 12 hours are entitled to £30 per person for every day without power, to cover the cost of food and drink. People should keep hold of their receipts and claim costs back at www.ssen.co.uk/stormclaim

In addition, customers on SSEN’s Priority Service Register can claim reasonable costs for alternative accommodation if it is expected they will be without power for over 24 hours. Support with booking accommodation can be provided if needed.   If a power cut is estimated to last beyond 48 hours, all customers can benefit from this support.

Andy Smith, Operations Director at SSEN Distribution, said:

“We’ve made the most of a lull in the stormy weather today to get thousands of our customers reconnected.  This has been a difficult couple of days for the communities affected, and I’m grateful to them for their patience and support as our teams work extremely hard to restore power.

“We’ve targeted our restoration plan on repairing the faults that will reconnect the greatest number of customers, and those who have been without power the longest.  Where there are complex repairs or very localised faults, we expect around 1,500 homes will be without power until Friday.  I’d like to reassure our customers that all our resources have been made available for this final push.

“Our established welfare policy is active, offering reimbursement for meals and accommodation, for those who’re eligible, and we’re speaking to our most vulnerable customers to offer them tailored support.  Anyone who may need additional help or advice should contact our dedicated teams on the power cut helpline, 105.”

A further update will be provided later this evening.

If you see any damage to our equipment, please stay back, don’t touch it and instead report it to us directly by calling 105, or via our Power Track Website, and engineers will investigate as soon as possible.

Customers are also being encouraged to be prepared for the possibility of disruption to supplies by:

• Saving the emergency power cut number - '105' - to your phone to report any loss of supply or damage to the electricity network
• Visiting our Power Track Website to give you details of power cuts and restoration times. You can also report power cuts and network damage through Power Track.
• Visiting the "Preparing for a power cut" section on our website, where there is a wealth of advice and information, or to chat live to one of our advisors via the Webchat service

Customers are also eligible for our Priority Services Register (PSR) 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.

To find out more about the PSR, click here or call 0800 294 3259.