Storm Arwen and Power Cuts in the Ribble Valley

As constituents will be aware, in the wake of Storm Arwen thousands of homes across the North West were left without power, including a substantial number within the Ribble Valley. Storm Arwen brought severe weather including high wind speeds of up to 100mph, heavy rain, snow and ice, causing some of the most severe disruption to the power grid for over a decade.

In the North West alone over 100,000 homes were without power from last Friday 26th November. This was largely due to falling trees damaging power lines. After a monumental effort by Electricity North West power has now been restored to over 95 percent homes who were cut off. As of today, all the properties in the Ribble Valley who were disconnected should now be back online. If you are still without power please call 105 to raise this with your electricity provider.

Following previous representations, Nigel Evans MP spoke yesterday with The Chief Executive Officer of Electricity North West Construction and Maintenance, Mr Mark Williamson, to seek assurance that they were doing all they could to restore power to the last few homes who remained without power in the Ribble Valley, as well as raise the concerns of all the constituents who have been in touch. Mr Evans urged Electricity North West to ensure that a substantive review is undertaken in order to ensure improvements are made.

Anyone still experiencing issues or in need of further support, should contact Electricity North West by dialling “105” from their landline or mobile. If anyone is still struggling to get in touch with Electricity North West please write to nigel.evans.mp@parliament.uk with your name, address and the nature of your issue.

Those who have lost power for over 48 hours are also entitled to compensation at a rate of £70 for the first 48 hours and £70 for every subsequent 12 hours, up to a maximum of £700. Electricity North West should contact you directly if you are eligible. Further information is available on the Ofgem website at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/.../check-compensation-rules...

Speaking from Westminster Nigel Evans said “I want to commend the work of the engineers on the ground and others who have worked tirelessly to restore power to all those who have been cut off.

“In this day and age, it is vital that measures are put in place to not only repair damaged infrastructure rapidly, but to ensure through ongoing repairs and maintenance that the necessary resilience is place to ensure that substantial outages of this nature cannot occur, and it is essential that lessons are learned from this.”

OFGEM.GOV.UK

Check the compensation rules for a power cut or supply problem

Call 105 if you have a power cut and 0800 111 999 if you smell gas. You can get compensation for some supply problems.