Power cut help & advice

 

A fridge will keep food cold for about four hours if the door is kept closed. A full freezer will hold its temperature for about 48 hours (24 hours if half-full). For more information visit the Food Standards Agency website.

 

• Keep our phone numbers handy, call 105 or 0800 31 63 105 (free to call from a landline or mobile phone)
• We urge customers who need extra support during a power cut to register for our Priority Services Register 
• Keep a torch with spare batteries. Take care if using candles
• Keep a phone with a cord, as cordless phones don’t work in a power cut
• Its especially important if you are unwell, less mobile or very young to keep warm. Dress warmly with layers, a hat and gloves and have blankets to hand, so you can keep warm until the power is back on. You can also reduce the heat loss by closing doors on unused rooms and closing your curtains.

We can offer extra assistance to those who need it. Please call us on 0800 31 63 105 or 105 and we can help.

Our electricity network is designed in such a way that properties in the same street are often supplied by different electricity cables. This means that the electricity line that supplies your property could be faulty, but the line that supplies your neighbours property is fine.

We can restore some power supplies on our high voltage network by remote control from our office, but many other sites need to be individually visited and assessed by our engineers before replacement equipment can be ordered and repair work can then start.

Using a generator isn't always the simplest solution. We need the same qualified engineers to install a generator as we do to fix a fault and we would rather permanently fix the problem. We may sometimes use generators to restore power, but this will only be where repairs are extensive and they are going to take a long time.

We follow standards set by the industry regulator Ofgem. This involves making payments if we do not meet set guidelines. Find out if you are entitled to a payment.

When you have invested a lot of time and money in fish and equipment we want to help you look after them during a power cut. Here are some tips:

• During a power cut the temperature of the water in your tank will drop gradually. This speed depends on the surrounding temperature and the volume of water inside the tank, i.e. a larger volume of water will take longer to cool down than a smaller volume of water
• For insulation, wrap the tank in blankets. If possible, fill hot water bottles with warm water and place them around the outside of the tank
• Without power, the water will lose oxygen gradually. So fish suppliers recommend a cheap bubble-up filter that can run off a battery-powered air pump. If you don’t have one then a normal bicycle pump will do the job
• Fish suppliers recommend disturbing the water surface for five minutes each hour during a power cut. A good way is to fill a jug with tank water then pour it back in, making as much movement as possible

If your mobile phone is running low on battery then here are a few tips to extend your battery life.

1. Use the extra power saving mode if you have it
2. Cut apps running in the background
3. Turn down screen brightness
4. Top up your battery in your car if you have a car charger

Solar panels, or photovoltaic panels, are designed to collect sunlight and turn it into energy. They don't rely on the electricity network, so if there's a power outage, solar panels will continue to work.