A new report has criticised energy companies’ handling of Storm Arwen after thousands were cut off for several days without power – including people across Stirling.
Energy regulator Ofgem published its report into the response to the storm yesterday following a six-month review and have made a series of recommendations aimed at ensuring the same level of disruption does not happen again.
Storm Arwen caused carnage across Stirling in November, leaving some rural communities waiting a week for power to be fully restored.
Around 350 homes were left in the dark after strong winds brought down trees and power lines, with areas including Killin, Callander, Doune and Port of Menteith also seeing supplies cut off after main routes were blocked.
The handling of the storm’s aftermath also led to calls from locals for better resilience planning moving forward after villagers were forced to step in and help out vulnerable neighbours.
Ofgem’s report is critical of the “unacceptable” length of time people remained off power, the “poor” communication received from network operators and the length of time it took for compensation payments to be dished out.
The report also finds that while some companies did kick their emergency plans into place before Arwen took hold, these were viewed as “not sufficient” to deal with the damage caused by the storm.
A trio of operators - including Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) - have already paid £34m in compensation and have now agreed to pay another £10.3m in ‘voluntary redress payments’ to affected communities.
Stirling MSP Evelyn Tweed published a survey in the aftermath of the storm which revealed that almost a third of people felt unprepared for a big storm and also 70 per cent lacked confidence in SSEN for the future.
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Reacting to the report’s findings, Ms Tweed said: “This report brings back grim memories of what was a truly awful time for the residents of rural Stirling last year.
“Of particular concern was how long families and the elderly were left with inaccurate and often no communication from the energy network during a time of genuine crisis, so I am pleased to see this being directly addressed by Ofgem.
“Recommendations should, if implemented fully, limit the impact of future storms. As energy networks are a reserved matter, the UK Government must ensure these recommendations are acted on quickly and consistently.
“Families are already facing a very difficult winter this year and we must ensure that they do not face similar lengthy periods without electricity, heating and hot water as last year. I look forward to continuing to communicate with the energy networks, SSEN and SP Energy Networks on their resilience planning for future storms.”
Jonathan Brearley, chief executive of Ofgem, said: “Distribution network companies faced challenging conditions in the aftermath of Storm Arwen, and I pay tribute to the many colleagues in those companies who supported customers and worked to get them back on power as quickly as possible. However, it was unacceptable that nearly 4,000 homes in parts of England and Scotland were off power for over a week, often without accurate information as to when power would be restored.
“Network companies need to do better, not just to prevent power disruptions, but to ensure that when power is off, they work smarter to get people back on power quicker, and keep customers informed with accurate and timely information.
“The frequency of extreme weather events is only set to increase so it is really important that industry, and those involved more widely, learn from Storm Arwen to better respond in future.”
