British energy networks criticized for ‘inadequate support’ after Storm Arwen

Energy network companies have been reprimanded by the UK government and regulator for providing “inadequate support” to thousands of households left without power for more than a week after Storm Arwen last November.

The criticism came as meteorological authorities warned of potentially equally dangerous conditions on Friday when extreme weather is forecast to hit south-west Britain.

Energy regulator Ofgem and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy both released interim reports on Thursday into the response to Arwen, the worst storm in a decade, which resulted in nearly 1mn homes being left without power.

It took more than 48 hours to restore electricity to almost 60,000 homes, and 3,032 were cut off for at least a week due to the severe damage, especially in rural areas of northern England and Scotland.

Jonathan Brearley, Ofgem chief executive, said the energy industry needed to learn the “necessary lessons” from Arwen as the frequency of extreme weather events was “only set to increase” with climate change.

Brearley delivered his warning as the UK Met Office issued its first red alert since Arwen, for parts of south-west England and southern Wales on Friday. It warned that Storm Eunice posed a potential threat to life from flying debris.

Storm Arwen was severe and would, inevitably, have a big impact on the affected networks. However, it is not acceptable that around 3,000 customers were off supply for over a week

The business department’s energy emergencies executive committee said Arwen was “exceptionally severe” because of the “unusual” northerly wind direction. This caused “more damage” than gusts coming from the more common southwesterly direction “would have done”.

But it also criticized the response to Arwen from energy companies that manage local electricity infrastructure, accusing them of providing “overly optimistic” initial estimates for when supplies could be restored and preventing households from making “informed decisions” about their own welfare through the way in which they later communicated revised forecasts.

The committee also reproached energy companies for “unacceptably high” waiting times for customers trying to get in touch with their local electricity network operator.

The website of Northern Powergrid, owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, was not responsive for more than 15 hours during the worst of the storms, it said.

Ofgem claimed it had not so far found evidence that energy companies had underinvested in the resilience of the country’s electricity network but said it would investigate further how some of that spending had been targeted and what improvements were made. Ofgem has the power to fine companies that are found to be in breach of their obligations up to 10 per cent of their annual UK turnover.

Among the recommendations made in the reports is a review of the £ 700 cap on compensation that households can claim for such power outages, although electricity network companies voluntarily lifted it in the wake of Arwen.

Both the government and Ofgem said the industry’s use of mobile generators to temporarily restore power to customers should also be standardized as network companies differed in their approaches.

Both the government and Ofgem will publish their final reports in the spring.

“Storm Arwen was severe and would, inevitably, have a big impact on the affected networks. However, it is not acceptable that around 3,000 customers were off supply for over a week and, in many cases with poor communication and inadequate support, ”Brearley added.

The Energy Networks Association, a trade body, said its members “have been taking action to improve the way they manage the impact of severe weather” in the months since Arwen.