Electricity utilities only really attract the attention of their customers on the rare occasion of a power outage. A recent review of overhead network reliability during storms concluded that the most significant risk of a power outage comes when vegetation grows too close to overhead lines. The trees come in contact with the overhead lines, cutting off the power until the resultant damage is located and repaired. The incidence of this type of event has increased dramatically over recent years as winter storms have become much more frequent and intense.
There is some serious money involved when it comes to managing these types of power outages. Ofgem has just announced that they “are minded” to allocate an additional £37m for utilities to improve on their tree cutting performance, whilst the insurer Aegis reports that there have been 18 claims associated with power outages of over £100m each in the last 10 years.
If these numbers don’t make people sit up and take this issue seriously then nothing will!
There is some serious money involved when it comes to managing these types of power outages. Ofgem has just announced that they “are minded” to allocate an additional £37m for utilities to improve on their tree cutting performance, whilst the insurer Aegis reports that there have been 18 claims associated with power outages of over £100m each in the last 10 years.
If these numbers don’t make people sit up and take this issue seriously then nothing will!