28 Dec 2015

Electricity North West makes positive progress to complete safety inspections and restore supplies (19:00 update)

Electricity North West engineers have completed more than 80% of the property safety checks that were required before customers could be reconnected to the network. Work will continue tomorrow to get the remaining 357 customers back on supply.

  • Significant progress has been made in carrying out property safety checks today and more than 80% of the outstanding checks have now been completed.
  • We will work through the night to restore supplies to the 357 customers currently off supply.
  • Around 150 customers in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester remain off supply. Door-to-door safety checks have to be completed before these properties can be safely re-connected to the network
  • In Littleborough, Salford and Bolton, the company had removed supplies whilst safety checks were undertaken. This work is progressing well and only 71 customers are currently off supply.
  • Plans are in place to restore supplies to 136 customers served by Market Rochdale and Pioneers substations in Rochdale town centre overnight.
  • Twenty-five generators are still connected to support supplies in the Rochdale areas therefore customers are still being asked where they can, to conserve energy.
  • Please contact us immediately if your property has no power and is not included in the above list so that we can understand and resolve your issue.

Engineers, including inspectors and meter operators from electricity suppliers, have gone from street to street and house to house in Croston, Helmshore, Leyland, Lostock Hall, Padiham, Parbold, Rawtenstall, Ribchester and Whalley in Lancashire and Bolton, Bury, Delph, Littleborough, Radcliffe, Rochdale, Salford and Wigan in Greater Manchester today to inspect and repair affected equipment.

Work will be undertaken overnight to restore customers supplied by the Market Rochdale and Pioneers substations in Rochdale. Once this work is complete, power will have been restored to the full network.

The Company is appealing to any customers not in the area listed above who is still off supply to get in touch so that their issue can be addressed. Customers can ring our call centre on 0800 195 4141 or contact us at @ElectricityNW.

Paul Bircham, Strategy Director for Electricity North West, said: “On connection of Market and Pioneers substations this evening, we will have restored power to all of our substations in the region and I would like to thank customers for their patience and understanding as we have undertaken this work.

“We have inspected over 800 properties today to ensure that they can be safely connected to the network. We are hopeful that all properties will have their power supply restored tomorrow.

“It has been a challenging time for the communities in our region and we continue to be grateful for the goodwill and support that has seen shown to our colleagues by all of our customers."

More information will be posted at www.electricitynorthwest.co.uk and on Twitter @ElectricityNW.

Vulnerable customers, including some older or disabled people, or those with a medical dependency on electricity, can also sign up to the Priority Services Register by visiting www.enwl.co.uk/priority or contacting Electricity North West on 0800 195 4141.

For advice on how to stay safe in a flooding event, please visit www.enwl.co.uk/power-cuts/flooding-advice.

To report a power cut please call 0800 195 4141, follow @ElectricityNW on Twitter or visit www.electricitynorthwest.co.uk.