Worried about power?

[Paul_and_Sue_Wood]

All

As we will be hearing more horror stories about power cuts in the winter I have found the priority services register. This is to allows the power suppliers to plan and help the vulnerable.

Click on the link below to learn more.

ofgem.gov.uk/information-co...

Paul

[ReverendBadger]

Good thinking Paul. I have been mulling over the exact same thing this afternoon. I doubt there is a system that will work in practice for excempting everyone on the priority register from extensive nationwide rolling power cuts but if its only a slight problem the smart meters might be selectively addressed.

i would suggest having a good argument for why you must have reliable power 24/7 when speaking to the DNO about being registered because they will categorise you.

We have been on Western Power and Distribution register for ages (wife's health) but when they had a planned outage for 0800-1600 for 3 days I had an additional argument as we had a submersible ground water pump running that week and advised them there was a risk of ground water rising above the lowest floor level of the house if the pump was off for more than 5 or 6 hours. They promised us a generator but the day the work started their stores had run out of gennys and the engineering supervisor had to hire one locally.

Now MSA is a feature I will be speaking to them soon specifically about my dysfunctional body temperature control and the need to keep this old solid stone walled house heated 24/7 in the depths of a cold winter to avoid the risk of hypothermia. I might even suggest they could install a containerised automatic standby generator in the field by the pole transformer which would no doubt please my other 22 neighbours on the same unit.

I let you know how I get on.

[SamfMSA Moderator Staff]

Hi Paul & Sue

Thanks for flagging this up. I've actually written an article on the cost of living for MSA News, which members of the Trust should receive in the next couple of weeks. It includes a section on priority service registers for electricity, gas, water and telephone.

If anyone needs any advice, help or support due to the rising cost of living, please don't hesitate to contact me at the Trust ([e-mail])

Kind regards

Sam Fitzgerald (Social Welfare Specialist)

[ReverendBadger]

Spoke to Western Power and Distribution today who now appear to be part of National Grid. Very efficient, as soon as they had my post code and first line of address they knew my name and had details of my existing priority service registation.

I advised them I had a serious neurological condition, that my body temperature regulation didn't work properly so I needed the heating on 24/7 in winter. I said I was worried about the prospect of rolling blackouts and asked what their plans were for people like me on the register and I pointed out we had a generator supplied in the past.

The response was rapid. Apologised for me being concerned but the actual likelyhood of rolling blackouts is infinitessimally small and the newspapers and media are just stirring things up.

So I've got all the important numbers to call if the leccy goes off and my secret password set up. We shall see !

About 2 hrs after my call they ring back (while I am out) and speak to the wife, check we are happy with the way our enquiry was dealt with and explain when/where we can use the password.

All in all we are quite impressed with their efficiency and attention to detail so have no reason to doubt their info on the probability of rolling blackouts.