North East MPs have welcomed changes suggested by a damning report which called a power company's response to Storm Arwen "unacceptable" and said they were "pleased" residents were being listened to.
The energy watchdog Ofgem said customers were provided an "unacceptable service" following Storm Arwen after it left thousands of homes in the North East without power last November - some for more than 10 days. Northumberland and County Durham were among the worst affected areas after 100mph winds uprooted trees, and damaged power lines.
But in a damning report published on Thursday, Ofgem said although staff at Northern Powergrid and other power companies worked hard there was poor communication, insufficient planning before the storm, and a failure to contact vulnerable customers. The regulator said failures in the Northern Powergrid call centre could be a breach of its licence.
