Electricity North West is carrying out work worth £1m to enhance and upgrade its technology on a large section of Rochdale’s power network.

The firm, which operates the region’s electricity network, is making the seven-figure investment in remote control technology which will allow for quicker restoration of power cuts should they happen in the area.  

Teams will install 8km of new fibre cable to aid the remote control of the power network and thousands of customers and businesses will benefit from the work.  

Karen Diprose, who is overseeing the work in Rochdale for Electricity North West, said: “We’re pleased to finally get started on a major piece of work which will transform Rochdale’s power network.

“The work we are carrying out will provide us with more visibility of any issues and a better experience for people living and working in the area.

“Our upgrades will mean a quicker response time, meaning we won’t always have to despatch engineers as we can restore power remotely in the unlikely event of a power cut.

“This piece of work is part of a wider, proactive investment programme where teams regularly review areas of the network that need to be upgraded.

“Whilst work is taking place, we’ll keep disruption to a minimum and we’ll keep customers regularly updated.”

Work has already started in Littleborough to advance the project prior to the Christmas period. Electricity North West has worked with Rochdale Council to re-design the project to minimise disruption along the A58 and Featherstall Road.

The second phase of the project will start in January and ahead of the work taking place, Electricity North West will hand-deliver letters to customers and businesses. The project is expected to last six months.