Generator plan gives ‘power to the people’ in the Borders during the winter

Members of Scottish Borders Council will be recommended on Thursday, December 15, to approve the purchase and maintenance of a stock of small portable generators for use, particularly in rural communities, in the event of power outages over the next two or three months.

It is proposed that the generators will be pooled at road depots, with three each provided in Duns, Hawick, Kelso, Newtown St Boswells and Peebles.

The generators will cost up to £1,670 each.

During Storm Arwen, which struck large parts of the UK between November 25 and 29 last year, a series of large scale and prolonged power outages were created across the Borders.

A lesson learned from that experience was that village halls, which were used as support centres during that period, did not have back-up generators and were vulnerable should the venue become subject to power outage.

Now it is proposed to use money from the council’s reserves to purchase a small stock of 15 portable generators to address concerns.

A report to the full council, from Andy McLean, the council’s emergency planning officer, says: “Whilst it is not possible to provide every hall in the Borders with a generator, it is proposed that a small stock of 15 of the largest output KWH (Kilowatt Hour) small portable generators are purchased.

“They could then be taken to a village hall or other building used by a community during power outages.”