Damian Hinds has visited Scottish and Southern Energy’s depot in Petersfield to meet with those who had worked to reinstate power over the Christmas period, and to discuss network resilience issues.
Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution is responsible for maintaining and improving the electricity network across Central Southern England. Over 23rd - 24th December 2013 the electricity distribution network in Hampshire and the surrounding areas was affected by devastating gale force winds of up to 80mph leading to over 800 faults on the network and 620,000 homes losing power. Customers in the east of the network, comprising Hampshire, West Sussex and Surrey, bore the brunt of the weather and around 83% of SSE’s total faults.
SSE’s workforce had to deal with flooding, ground saturation and fallen trees to restore power to those homes without it. 97.4% of those affected did have their power restored within 48 hours, but some families locally did have longer in the dark.
Damian Hinds said:
“I heard two key messages from residents who were affected by the power outages over the Christmas period.
“One was that they wanted to convey their thanks to the staff who worked extremely hard over the Christmas period, under extremely difficult conditions, to restore power. I would like to echo this gratitude; they did a tremendous job and it is much appreciated.
“However, many of them also said that they had been very frustrated with SSE’s communication, and I know that a lot of people experienced difficulties in receiving updates about the situation.
“I was keen to pass both of these messages on to SSE, and this was an ideal opportunity to do so. We also discussed the issue of network resilience; it is clear that lessons need to be learned from recent events, and it is important that changes are made in the most cost-effective way.
“I am also in contact with energy suppliers and regulators about the incidence of power cuts throughout the year in Hampshire, and will continue to do what I can to address these issues.”
During his visit, Damian was informed that, as a result of feedback, some communications improvements have been made already.