MPs in the North East have branded Northern Powergrid’s response to Storm Arwen “botched” and “concerning” amid the publishing of a report into the weather crisis that called on the electricity provider to “up its game”.
In November 2021, thousands of homeowners were plunged into darkness after the region and other parts of the UK were battered with high winds and torrential rain, which destroyed power cables, caused millions of pounds worth of damage and uprooted numerous trees.
It also left many without power, heat, and access to their own food for up to 12 days.
Read more: Storm Arwen Ogfem report: County Durham MPs say it 'can't happen again'
After calls from politicians, communities, and campaign groups to investigate Storm Arwen, watchdog Ofgem published its six-month report on Thursday (June 9) citing that some customers received “unacceptable service”, poor communication about when they would be reconnected and slow compensation payments.
The Ofgem review found that some affected customers remained off power for an unacceptable amount of time, received poor communication from their network operator and compensation payments took too long.
This was in addition to not having sufficient resources to deal with Storm Arwen, and Northern Powergrid not directly contacting vulnerable customers enrolled on its Priority Services Register prior to the storm.
Over the last six months, three network operators – Northern Powergrid, who was responsible for the North East response, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks and Electricity North West – have paid nearly £30 million in compensation and agreed to pay another £10.3m in “redress payments” to local communities.
However, Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley, has called the whole situation “unacceptable”.
Some affected customers remained off power for an unacceptable amount of time, received poor communication from their network operator and compensation payments took too long.
During Storm Arwen, MPs from the North East dealt with the response to their constituents; many of whom had no power and access to heat.
Following the publishing of the report, The Northern Echo has sought reaction from the region’s MPs – with many of them outraged with the situation and response time of Northern Powergrid.
Durham City MP, Mary Kelly Foy, has concluded that the report “has laid bare the failings of the network operators and Government to properly prepare and plan for this kind of storm”.
She said: “The report makes clear why so many of my constituents in areas such as Waterhouses and Bearpark were left with unacceptable power cuts, but also without any clear communication or meaningful support for far too long.
“It’s deeply concerning that Northern Powergrid failed to keep even the most vulnerable customers informed but also were too slow to deploy resources to re-establish power for many households.”
Meanwhile, North West Durham MP, Richard Holden has sought to set up a public enquiry on Friday (June 10) at the Castleside Village Hall in Consett at 6pm, which will bring into focus Northern Powergrid’s Storm Arwen response.
He said: “Some of my most affected and vulnerable constituents spent days and weeks without power. Without hot food. Without safety and security. Being told power would come on day after day to no avail.
“This can never happen again, and I hope this Ofgem report goes some way in making sure this is the case.
“I sincerely hope these are promptly acted upon by Northern Powergrid, to ensure their future responses to natural disasters can learn valuable lessons from their botched job over Storm Arwen – to ensure this never happens to communities like North West Durham again.”
In response to the Ofgem findings, David Smith, chief executive of the Energy Networks Association, which represents the UK and Ireland’s energy networks businesses, said firms have planned improvements, and that it was “particularly important as severe weather events become more frequent”.
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