Watchdogs have slammed energy firms’ handling of the aftermath of Storm Arwen which left hundreds of residents across Perth and Kinross with no power for a week.
Regulator Ofgem published its report into the storm response following a six-month review and have made recommendations to ensure widespread outages don’t happen on the same scale again. Storm Arwen caused carnage in November with 800 rural Perthshire homes were left without power for a week.
Ofgem criticised the “unacceptable” length of time people remained off power, the “poor” communication received from network operators and the time taken for compensation payments to be dished out.
Of particular concern was how long families and the elderly were left with inaccurate and often no communication from the energy network.
Hundreds of Big County homes were left in the dark after strong winds in the early hours of Friday, November 27 brought down trees and power lines, with areas in the north west including Pitlochry, Blair Atholl, Strathtay, Aberfeldy, Fearnan and Glenlyon seeing supplies cut off after main routes were blocked.
In other parts of Perthshire and Kinross-shire, people in Milnathort, Grange, Braco and Glencarse spent the weekend lacking power and heat.
And school children could not get to class at Kettins Primary and Kirkmichael Primary because they began the day without electricity.
Trees were still blocking the A93 road in Invergowrie on the Monday morning.
An announcement has come from Ofcom stating that local residents must be able to phone emergency services following a damaging storm.
Murdo Fraser MSP and councillors Caroline Shiers and Bob Brawn have said this move is “essential” in helping stricken people, such as those living in the Glenshee and Kirkmichael area following the impact of Storm Arwen in November last year.
Mr Fraser, who represents the Mid Scotland and Fife region, said: “We very much welcome this decision from Ofcom who told BT that rural people must be able to call the emergency services when storms cause power cuts, after digital-only phones were rendered useless by strong winds last winter.
“This was part of the main problem for residents in Kirkmichael as they were unable to use their mobile phones and their internet was down, so they were not getting updates on what was being done to try to get the power back on in their homes. It was very fortunate that there was a great community spirit in Kirkmichael with residents looking out for one another.
“Otherwise, I shudder to think what may have happened.”
In Fearnan near Loch Tay, the power was off for the night of Friday, November 27, Saturday 28, and only returned on the Sunday evening. Trees hit the power line opposite the village hall, knocking out around 120 homes.
But the water to the village is pumped from a reservoir in Fortingall where there was still no power on Monday and it was some time after before taps and toilets worked again.
The power loss in Strathtay cost a holiday let business dear after a generator above Strathtay could not be accessed because of fallen trees.
At the time, John Campbell owner of Clan Campbell Cottages, hit out at supplier SSE: “Storm Arwen was not a hurricane.
“This is the 21st century and you’d expect we would be storm-proof by now.”
Details were circulated about claiming compensation following the loss of electricity supplies.
The Ofgem site stated that consumers could claim £70 after 48 hours without electricity and a further £70 for each additional 12 hour period, up to a maximum of £700.
A trio of operators - including Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) - have already paid £34m in compensation following the storm and have now agreed to paid another £10.3m in ‘voluntary redress payments’ to affected communities.
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.
“However, it was unacceptable that nearly 4,000 homes were off power for over a week, often without accurate information as to when power would be restored.
“Network companies need to do better. 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.”
