Information from Scottish & Southern Electricity

We have identified that your parish was affected over the course of these two events. We are therefore reaching out firstly apologise for any inconvenience this caused yourself or any of your residents but also to understand how we can better work together to help support you should your parish experience power loss in the future. As well as a Priority Service Register, of which more detail can be found below we also encourage communities to develop their own resilience plan to be enacted in the event of an emergency. The aim being to enable communities to better understand pre-existing support networks whilst also ensuring that responders, such as ourselves have quick, easy access to key contacts so any response can be co-ordinated with you accordingly.

While SSEN has well established resilience plans and is fully prepared for whatever extremities this year’s weather may bring, customers are being encouraged to take some simple, practical steps to be ready together with SSEN to strengthen their resilience, including:

• Signing up to SSEN’s free Priority Services Register, or finding out if a friend or family member could benefit from the scheme, that supports customers who may need extra help during a power cut;
• Downloading SSEN’s free Power Track app, which provides live updates on faults and restoration times. Customers can also report power cuts and network damage directly to SSEN via the app;
• Saving the 105 free-to-call national power cut number to their phone contacts.

By registering for SSEN’s PSR, customers will be proactively contacted to warn them of potential bad weather to help them prepare and to offer extra support where required. SSEN’s teams will also keep in close and regular contact with its PSR customers during power cuts to check they are getting the help they need.

Over 700,000 of SSEN’s customers are already signed up for the service, but SSEN is aware that there are still some customers who may not realise they are eligible for the scheme that provides extra support during power cuts.

Customers can qualify for the PSR if they:

• Are deaf or hard of hearing
• Have a disability
• Live with children under five
• Are blind or partially sighted
• Have a chronic illness
• Use medical equipment/aids reliant on electricity
• Are over 60

For more information on the support available from SSEN, and for helpful advice on preparing for and dealing with a power cut, please visit ssen.co.uk/ready-together.