MP David Morris met with head of engineering Steve Cox and operations director Martin Deehan from Electricity North West to discuss the power operator’s response in the storm and the flood defences in place at the substation.
The substation based on Caton Road in Lancaster supplies power to 55,000 customers in Lancaster, Morecambe and Carnforth and £500k was invested in flood defences back in 2007 to withstand a ‘once-in-100-year’ floods.
During Storm Desmond more than 500 employees worked around the clock to restore supplies, they completed three months’ of work in just three days and 75 generators from around the UK provided power to 23,000 homes, the most generation ever connected in the UK.
MP David Morris, said: “I would like to thank Electricity North West for taking the time to show me the substation and talk me through the work carried out and the problems faced during Storm Desmond.
left in its wake significant damage and major upheaval. None more so than for Electricity North West as the first thing that struck me when I visited the site was the sheer volume of water that had caused the flooding. It was clear from my visit that the engineers had experienced unprecedented levels of water and I’d like to thank all of the Electricity North West engineers for all their hard work getting customers back on during a very difficult time.
“I also welcome Electricity North West’s decision to take action following the flooding and invest a further £2.5m in flood defences at the substation which will help further protect power supplies in the area.”
Martin Deehan, operations director for Electricity North West, said: “We were pleased to welcome MP David Morris and show him the flood defences already in place and explain the enormously challenging time we faced during Storm Desmond which was the worst weather we have ever experienced with a month’s worth of rain in just 24 hours.
“I can’t thank my colleagues enough for all their hard work and dedication and also the support during the storm from our customers.
“To enhance the work and flood defences already in place we are committed to investing £2.5m to help further protect power supplies to our customers in the area. The protection in place now is to withstand a ‘once-in-100-year’ floods and Storm Desmond unfortunately breached these defences so this further investment will help safeguard power supplies to homes and businesses.”
Visit www.electricitynorthwest.co.uk, follow @ElectricityNW or call 0800 195 4141 for more information.
