Fledgling plans to set up a single emergency power cuts helpline drew scorn from the energy and climate change committee, after it emerged the networks could not be sure of providing correct information in the first place.
The heads of five distribution network operators acknowledged communications as a weakness, as they fended off charges they had been too slow to restore power to some households. The Energy Networks Association estimates 93-95 per cent of customers were reconnected within 24 hours, despite “significant” storm damage.
Tim Yeo, chairing the committee, accused the witnesses of “utter complacency” he said was “absolutely typical of a monopoly”. At the end of the session, he blasted: “I have heard nothing at all that reassures me you are taking this problem seriously enough.”
It followed an admission from Basil Scarsella, chief executive of UK Power Networks, that when the next storm hits “I don’t think we are in a position today to guarantee that every customer will be able to get accurate information in terms of timing of reconnection.”
Mark Mathieson, managing director of networks at SSE, was forced to admit a smartphone app brought out to make it easier for customers to report and view faults could not cope with big events. “It works very well for business as usual,” he insisted.
Scottish Power Energy Networks correctly estimates when customers will be reconnected in around 85 per cent of cases, according to chief executive Frank Mitchell. The company is “working to improve” that accuracy rate.
Andrew Wright, interim chief executive of Ofgem, disclosed that he was among the victims and lost supply for 20 hours on Christmas Eve. “My own personal experience is the quality of information provided to customers left a lot to be desired,” he said, although he added: “That should not form a basis for regulatory decisions.”
Ofgem is investigating the industry’s response to the storms and expects to report in early March.