Planned power cuts

We may need to turn your power off to repair damage to our electricity cables that brings power to your home

If we have identified a fault on our network, our engineers may need to carry out planned work in order to complete the repairs. Once we have completed the work, there will be a lower risk of power cuts and the power supply will be more reliable for you and your neighbours.

Watch our short video below to find out more or download our leaflet at the bottom of this page. 

We may turn off your power because we need to trim tree branches that are near overhead electricity cables.

This is to trim and removing tree’s branches to make sure they do not damage or disrupt our electricity cables. When tree branches touch overhead electricity cables, it can cause a power cut. If this happens your power may go off for around 1 minute and come back on.

If we don’t trim the tree branches it can cause continued disruption to our electricity network and can cause multiple power cuts.

Watch our short video below to find out more or download our leaflet at the bottom of this page. 

We may need to turn your power off because we are upgrading or replacing part of the electricity network in your area

This work may involve;

• Replacing old electricity poles with new ones
• Replacing old electricity cables with new ones
• Replacing old equipment at our substation

When we do this work, we also look for any opportunities to install new technology to our network to improve it and help prevent issues in the future.

Watch our short video below to find out more or download our leaflet at the bottom of this page.

We do not offer compensation for planned power cuts. We follow the standards set by our industry regulator, Ofgem.

Further information can be found on the industry regulator's website.

Find out more

Once we have confirmed a date and time for the planned power cut, we are unable to make any changes. This is because the preparation work has already been carried out. Our engineers or contractors have been arranged to carry out the work, all materials have been ordered and we’ve also let other customers know in the area that the work will be happening at this time.

Occasionally we are able to complete the work quicker than planned and will do our best to turn your power back on as quickly as possible.

If you have a question, you can call us on 105 or by sending us a message on WhatsApp.

We only provide generators for customers who are medically dependent on electricity. We do not provide generators for businesses or personal use.

Please visit our dedicated webpage here.

Help and advice

During a planned power cut, the temperature of the terrarium or the water in your tank will drop gradually. This speed depends on the surrounding temperature and, for fish, the volume of water inside the tank.

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.

If you are unsure, please contact your local fish or tropical animal supplier for further information.

Yes, if you rely on electricity for medical equipment, it’s important that you let us know by calling us on 0800 294 3259 and we can add you to our free Priority Services Register.

Power cuts will affect equipment such as stairlifts, bath hoists, and adjustable beds. Make sure that any essential medical equipment has a battery backup. This means you can keep using it, even if the power is out. If you have a stairlift, check it has a manual release handle, you can use this to return the lift to the ground floor if you have a power cut.

Don’t open the freezer door unless you have to – this helps food stay frozen for longer. When the power comes back on, check the food inside. Food should keep for about eight hours without power. If the food is still hard and icy, you can leave it in the freezer. It is advisable to turn the freezer to its maximum setting for 24 hours, before putting it back to a setting that keeps it at -18°C.

If the food has started to defrost, you may need to throw it away. Discard any food you would eat when it is frozen such as ice cream, if it has started to defrost. Do not refreeze these foods. If meat, fish, or foods containing them, have started to get soft, throw them away too. Watch out for liquid coming out of defrosting raw meat because this could spread bacteria to other foods.

Due to the amount of work to be carried out on our network, it may not be possible to complete the work all at the same time, so we may need to interrupt your electricity supply more than once.

We use contractors to carry out work on the network on our behalf which can involve switching off your power. Usually, we will send out a letter ourselves to let you know about a planned power cut but we may ask our contractor to do this on our behalf. This is nothing to worry about and the contractor will say in the letter why we need to switch your power off. If you receive a letter from one of our contractors and would like more information please call the number on the letter or contact us directly.

We deliver letters to each of the properties we are expecting to be affected by the planned power cut. We do this a minimum of 48 hours before the power cut. Our advanced warning letters are sometimes dismissed as junk mail. If you are concerned that your address may have been missed, please send us a message and we can check our records to ensure we have the correct information for you.