As an essential service provider, Electricity North West will continue to monitor and respond to any issues on the power network round the clock to reduce the impact of any power cuts.
Steph Trubshaw, customer director at Electricity North West, said: “We know that many people will be working from home or self-isolating, and may also have children at home, meaning we’re all relying on electricity in our homes more than ever.
“We provide a critical service and the work we do is fundamental to the country’s effort in managing this pandemic well. We encourage people who are concerned about power cuts to contact us so that we can help.”
Engineers will also continue carrying out essential maintenance work on the network each day which will add resilience for the coming weeks and months.
To ensure that this work can be carried out safely, the firm is informing customers that engineers will sometimes have to remove power to homes and business while the work is carried out.
Ms Trubshaw continued: “We maintain 57,000km of overhead lines and underground cables, and not all of our maintenance work can be stopped or delayed as it is essential to us operating a safe and reliable power network. That means that some of our planned power cuts will still be going ahead, so that we can reduce the risk of unplanned power cuts in the future. Where possible we will reduce the impact on our customers by shortening the lenght of time your power is turned off.
“We are continuing to work with industry colleagues and Government to ensure that support and help is available for customers in the North West. Plans are in place to protect our customers and employees and we ask that if you are affected by a power cut and are self-isolating, to please contact us immediately and let us know so that we can help.”
The company is reviewing its planned programme of essential work to keep the power flowing in the longer term and are assessing all work on a case-by-case basis.
Where possible, Electricity North West will ensure planned interruptions will not last longer than five hours and should work be unable to be completed in that time, a generator will be provided to keep power on for affected customers.
The network operator is also informing customers that unplanned power cuts can still happen and is calling on customers to be prepared. Power cuts can be caused by branches or birds colliding with overhead power lines, or other faults. You can keep track of any issues in your area, and get information about how to prepare by visiting www.enwl.co.uk/powercuts or calling Electricity North West on 105.
For more information go to www.enwl.co.uk/coronavirus.
