Christmas Storms

As Christmas storms battered the UK, Western Power Distribution’s early preparations ensured swift restorations to electricity supplies in one of the worst affected areas of the country.

• The South West saw the most severe weather
  • The South West and South Wales were battered time and again by gale force winds often exceeding 70mph
  • Devon had one month's worth of rain in one day
• Fully prepared for the event
  • Extra staff on shift in the Contact Centre
  • Home workers put on standby to take calls
  • Ramp-up call-taking centres on standby
  • Additional Control Room staff on duty
  • Additional Operational staff on standby rota
  • Tree-cutting and overhead contractor staff on standby
  • Stores staff, IT and other support staff on standby
  • All pre-planned work re-scheduled
  • Emergency flood response vehicles and crews on standby
  • Helicopter Unit on 24-hour standby
• Investment in the network paid off, limiting its effect for customers
  • Tree maintenance programme up to date and vegetation management under control
  • Few infrastructure faults - mostly falling trees and other windborne debris
  • Maintenance programme up to date
  • Investment in automation paid dividends
  • Contact Centre investment a key driver
  • GPS system allows efficient working for staff out of normal working area
  • Consolidated Control Centres improves flexibility and no longer a bottle neck
• We have taken over 25,000 calls since December 23 with a response time of just under two seconds
• Of the 122,000 customers who went off supply, we restored :-
  • 87% (106,140) within 3 hours
  • 99.3% (121,146) within 12 hours
  • 99.9% (121,987) within 24 hours
• Updates provided via Twitter throughout the storm
• Media briefings were provided for local and national media during the storms