Helping customers be winter ready

A blog by Louise Lowes , Director of Customer Service at Northern Powergrid.

As an electricity network operator, we're delivering our winter campaign to support our customers and help them be prepared.

For us, it’s an important opportunity to proactively share top tips that often get forgotten because for most of us when we flick on our lights, we don’t give it a second thought…that is until the rare occasion there’s no power.

Behind the scenes our teams are preparing for winter year-round.  We spend around £1million every day on managing, maintaining and improving our electricity distribution network, and inspecting and preparing it, so that our customers can be sure that our teams are ready, whatever the weather.

The reality is that our weather is getting warmer, wetter and windier – and that brings with it challenges like foliage growing more quickly near our power lines and the increased risk of strong winds that can cause flying debris that can damage our network. We are proactive in how we manage our network and must be ready to always respond and support our customers – and that’s why our teams track the weather every single day!

Helping customers be prepared

We want to ensure people know what to do if they have a power cut – as this could happen due to a local network issue at any time – but we also don’t want people to think that just because it is winter their power is going to be regularly impacted.

That’s simply not true thanks to our investments – but our northern winters do bring increased risk of damage so it’s vital we help our customers be prepared and they are reassured we are here for them if they ever need us.

In countries that are more used to severe weather, it’s second nature to have a grab bag in the family home – and there’s no reason why we can’t do this here in the UK. We’re encouraging more people to consider creating one for their home this winter and keep it somewhere handy. It could include:

·         torches and spare batteries,

·         charged power banks for mobile phones,

·         a wind up or battery powered radio,

·         hand warmers, blankets, thermal sock and gloves,

·         non-perishable food and drinks that can be consumed cold, and

·         for the parents out there maybe something to entertain the kids😉.

An easy win is to bookmark our Power Cut Map to the internet browser on your mobile phone as it’s the quickest way to report and track a power cut and add 105 – the free number to report a power cut – to your mobile phone contacts. And what about agreeing a plan with a network of friends and family – so if you’re without power you can have a circle of support you can call on and vice versa?

If their power is on, a place to grab a shower, cook a meal and get cozy can make all the difference. It's about encouraging people to think about what they can do to be more resilient. Also, if you do have a power cut which might affect your supply for a longer time, we’re here for you - we’ll look at what additional potential welfare support we can provide in your community.

What if a power cut is more than a short inconvenience?

We’re all proud northerners and sometimes asking for help can be daunting or out of our comfort zone, but for some of our customers their medical or personal situation can mean they really could benefit from a bit of extra help.

We know from our research that hundreds of thousands of eligible people could be missing out as they have not signed up to our Priority Services Membership.  Most memberships these days come with a price tag, but this is completely free, and you can even sign up a friend or family member and show them you care.

It’s particularly important to join if you’re medically dependent on electricity, of pensionable age, a parent of a child under the age of five or if you have specific communication needs, poor mobility, a serious illness or mental health care needs. All it takes is a quick visit to northernpowergrid.com/care to join online or call us on 0800 169 2996 to talk to one of our helpful advisors.

I really hope this year’s campaign will prompt more customers to act so they know what to do, think about how they and their family can be more resilient and feel reassured that we are here for them if they need us, no matter what this winter throws our way.

*Northern Powergrid manages the electricity distribution network across the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire.