Coronavirus updates and FAQs | UK Power Networks

As the company responsible for distributing power to over 8.3 million properties across London, the East and South East of England, we’re committed to keeping electricity flowing to your home or business, especially during the pandemic.

Power supplies remain 99.9% reliable. Our engineers are out in the community every day providing a critical service, maintaining the electricity network and fixing any power cuts on the rare occasions they happen. We have hundreds of customer service advisors equipped and working from home and offices to take calls to help serve all customers. Our first priority is to keep employees, contractors and customers safe, by carrying out all work in line with the latest Covid-19 national guidance.

We have provided more information in our FAQs below. We’re here for you 24/7. There are over 20 ways to get in touch including Twitter @ukpowernetworks, and freephone 105.

Anyone who might feel vulnerable in a power cut can sign up to our Priority Services Register to receive extra support.

We will of course keep you updated. Our priority remains the delivery of reliable and safe electricity to support communities and the wider UK economy. Thank you for your continued patience and understanding.

FAQs

We have invested in our electricity cables and substations to make power cuts so rare that our networks across London, the East and South East are 99.9% reliable. Power cuts can still sometimes happen for a variety of reasons beyond our control, but when they occur, we will fix them as normal.
Our engineers and support staff are out working as usual because most of our equipment is based in the community it serves. They are defined as key workers, as they are responsible for maintaining the power supplies to over 8.3 million homes and businesses. Please do respect 2m social distancing if you need to speak to our engineers in the street.
We are working with other network operators and trade associations to ensure we share best practice.
We have engaged with our supply chain to make sure we can continue to access the equipment and supplies we need.

We are working as normal to fix any power cuts which happen.
You can contact us on a variety of channels based on your preference, our website, Facebook, Twitter @ukpowernetworks, or call us on 105.
On the rare occasions we need to enter your home to restore your power, our staff will ask you if you are self-isolating, if anyone in your home has any symptoms of COVID 19, i.e. a new dry cough or fever, and if anyone is in a higher risk category.
Please make sure you specify your condition so that we can make the relevant arrangements and take any precautionary measures to assist you.

Preparing for the visit:

When we call you to explain the work we need to carry out in your home, we will agree with you how we enter the property and the suitable precautions we will put in place.
We will encourage you to send photographs to enable a better understanding of the work required.
Our staff have the required additional protective kit to carry out the job and will do a full risk assessment to cover extra controls than need to be put in place.

During the visit

National industry guidance is given to all our operational teams who need to enter customers’ homes for essential work.
Where practical, we will keep the essential works to the minimum required time to carry them out safely.
Our staff will wear protective equipment, stay in a different room from people who are infected or self-isolating, and avoid touching surfaces.
Additional disposable protective wear consists of FFP3/FFP2 (antiviral) mask, coveralls, overshoes and gloves, and all will be disposed of after single use.
Before entering the property, whenever possible we will call you from outside to let you know we have arrived. We will step away from the door before it is answered.
We will ask that the isolated person is in a separate room while we carry out the works.
We will also ask you to ventilate the area by opening doors and windows wherever possible and we will avoid touching surfaces.
If we need to communicate with you at any point during the works, we will speak to you from an adjacent room or use a mobile phone.
Finally, we will inform you that we will sign any paperwork on your behalf, just like most delivery drivers do now.

If you live in London, the East or South East of England, then being on our free Priority Services Register will ensure you will receive extra support if you experience a power cut.
Sign up to our Priority Services Register and we'll make sure you get extra support during a power cut: please visit www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/priority or call us on 0800 169 9970. It is free to register and any additional support you receive is free of charge.
We contacted our most vulnerable customers, for example, those with chronic illnesses, or medically dependant on oxygen or a ventilator, to reassure them that we are running a full faults service and are here for them 24/7.
Refer customers to a website that connects people to local groups which support those most vulnerable and in self isolation. Find out more.
We also run an Extra Care Register. Hospitals, hospices and care homes that look after vulnerable people are now able to get extra support if they ever have a power cut on their premises, by signing up at 0800 169 9970.

Yes, at any time you can cancel your appointment. Please just contact us through our website, on Twitter @UkPowerNetworks, or ring 105. We are here for you 24/7.

All our staff are classed as key workers by the Government. A pandemic is a major scenario we prepared for previously in our business resilience plans.
We scoped out how it might affect our business and what contingency measures we would need to put in place to ensure we continue to provide safe and reliable power supplies and keep customers well informed.
It’s business as usual at this stage and we continue to have a high number of engineers and call staff readily available. We constantly review our working arrangements, and any decisions we take are designed to maintain our high level of service to our customers.
We provide regular updates to all our staff on how to stay safe and work responsibly during these unprecedented times.

We led a group of utility firms to arrange a donation of £500,000 for 21 Community Foundations across the areas we serve.
We re-purposed our £300,000 Power Partners scheme to help those most affected in terms of fuel poverty, by the pandemic.
Our employees continue to fundraise for local good causes and raised nearly £9,000 in the early weeks of the pandemic. We run a ‘Give As You Earn’ scheme, staff donate cash awarded for high performance, and a weekly prize draw to support NHS trusts. Some have also completed training to join a befriending scheme to ring people at risk of feeling isolated at home.