Storm Arwen review: Ofgem tells power companies to 'up their game'

It has spent the last six months carrying out an independent review of the industry, focusing on whether the power outages could have been prevented, if correct and timely information was given to customers affected, whether power was restored quickly enough, and how customers were supported after the storm.

Winds of 100mph caused widespread disruption, uprooted trees and damaged power lines, cutting the electricity supply from November 26 across northern England and Scotland, with Northumberland one of the worst affected areas.

Power outages lasted for more than 10 days in some areas and customers complained of poor communication from their suppliers about when they would be reconnected.

Ofgem said staff at Northern Powergrid and other power companies worked hard in difficult circumstances, but many people were left with an “unacceptable service” dogged by poor communication, insufficient planning before the storm and a failure to contact vulnerable customers on its own register.

The company has paid more than £20m in compensation as a result of the storm, but recently issued accounts showing rising profits during 2021.

In its review, published today, Ofgem has issued 20 recommendations which aim to prevent a repeat of last year’s chaos, including better testing of websites and call centres to ensure they can cope with added winter pressures.

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 and worked to get them back on power as quickly as possible.

"However, it was unacceptable that nearly 4,000 homes in parts of England and Scotland were off power for over a week, often without accurate information as to when power would be restored.

“Network companies need to do better, not just to prevent power disruptions, but to ensure that when power is off, they work smarter to get people back on power quicker, and keep customers informed with accurate and timely information. This is the very least customers should be able to expect.

“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.”

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s programme this morning, he told told power firms to "up your game" and "get ready for winter".

He added the companies were "not well prepared" for the storm and in future they should maintain and invest more in the network, provide clearer communication to customers about when they will be reconnected and be more imaginative about how they get people back on supply.

The review found:

– Some affected customers remained off power for an unacceptable amount of time, received poor communication from their network operator and compensation payments took too long;

– Plans in place to deal with the storm were not sufficient to deal with the scale of the damage;

– Northern Powergrid did not directly contact vulnerable customers enrolled on its Priority Services Register prior to Storm Arwen, which should have been carried out as part of its winter preparedness campaign;

– The same firm accepted the performance of its call centre fell below the standards it should have been able to meet during a severe storm, potentially breaching its licence;

– Limited remote monitoring stopped firms from understanding the full scale and complexity of faults;

– There was some correlation between the age of electricity poles and how badly damaged they were in the storm, although this needs further examination.

As a result of the reviews, the network operators have agreed that they will pay a further £10.3million in voluntary redress payments to the affected communities through contributions to community funds and in donations to vulnerability support charities.

Berwick MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan, whose home lost power for eight days after the storm, helped Ofgem complete its review by gathering evidence from contituents about their experiences.

She said: "I think the recommendations in the report are fair and necessary, and the targets set are reasonable and crucially should come before autumn comes once more [by September 2022 for most recommendations].

"I am really pleased we have been listened to, and I thank BEIS and Ofgem for their work, but most of all I thank the hundreds of local residents who took the time to share their experiences with me and complete my surveys so I was able to present a weight of evidence to inform these reviews.”

“I look forward to meeting with Northern Powergrid and Scottish Power in due course to find out how they are going about implementing these recommendations, and how they will ensure we achieve greater resilience in our network to prevent outages, and systems more capable of good communication and service to customers in the event that outages take place."

Wooler councillor Mark Mather, whose farm at Haugh Head was badly damaged, added: “I welcome the report. The biggest disaster from Storm Arwen will be if we don’t learn the lessons and this is part of the process.

"The suffering from the storm wasn’t the worst bit for many – it was the unnecessary suffering which followed which hurt the most. Customers were being told day after day that their power would be back on within 24 hours but we now know that was never going to be the case."

Rothbury councillor Steven Bridgett added: “Having spent the morning digesting the contents of the report, I have to say that I can’t help feeling that should another incident like this happen, we still could very well find ourselves in a similar situation as last time.

“Lessons are not being learnt and you only need to look at the proposed upgrades to the telecoms masts in Rothbury where I have asked for back generation to be installed at the masts and those requests have been ignored by the mobile operators.

"The proposed community fund from Northern Powergrid is of interest and could very well help many of the communities in the Rothbury Division fund better resilience, such as back up generation for village halls in times of power outages which is something the communities in this area have already been looking at.

"The proof will be in the pudding as they say and based on my experience of the many local disasters the communities of this area have faced, top down never works and a grassroots approach is what helps local communities get through these issues.”