All homes in North of Scotland now have power after Storm Arwen following massive fault-fixing operation
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Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has said it has now restored all reported customer faults following Storm Arwen.
The energy firm is thanking all customers for their patience after reconnecting around 135,000 homes in the north of Scotland impacted by the 'once in a generation weather event'.
The strath escaped the worst of the storm which arrived on November 26 with the east coast being hit particularly badly.
A SSEN spokesperson said: "Following full restoration of power to customers, we will maintain a heavy staff presence across the affected areas carrying out remedial repairs and maintaining and refuelling any mobile generators as required.
"Our teams will be on hand to support our customers until such time as all full repairs have been carried out.
"We have moved our operational status in the north of Scotland from Red Alert to Yellow Alert and will remain on this status until we return the network to full operational health."
Mark Rough, director of operations for SSEN, said that Arwen was the worst storm to deal with in the 35 years he had worked for SSEN.
He said: "The extensive damage caused to our network by Storm Arwen has been unprecedented in some areas, with the North East region experiencing the equivalent of almost two years’ worth of overhead line faults in just one 12-hour period.
“I am fully aware of the difficult situation this has caused for many of our customers and am incredibly sorry for the length of time that some our customers have been without power.
"I know that this has been a challenging time for many, and I want to thank everyone for their patience and understanding while our teams battled to restore supplies.
“I’d also like to pay tribute to the hard work of my teams across Scotland and everyone who has supported us, including people from as far afield as Dorset and Dublin.
"They have done an amazing job in some exceptionally demanding conditions.
"This monumental effort has been supported by great collaborative working with local community groups and government agencies to ensure the safety and welfare of customers and communities.
“As we continue to work to return the network to full operational health in the coming days, we will maintain enhanced staffing levels.
"This is important as we want to make absolutely sure that we are aware of all faults on our localised network and are calling on any customers who are returning to an unoccupied property, or who have not been in contact with us and are still without power, to get in touch by calling 105 as soon as possible.”
Mr Rough added: "We are actively tracking a weather front that is due to move through the country on Tuesday and will monitor this on a regular basis during the next 24-48 hours, moving resources and equipment to locations we believe will see the worst of the weather."
Regulator Ofgem sets clear guidelines for compensation in the event that customers do not receive the service of network supply they expect.
The guidelines consider the conditions in which engineers are working to restore households and businesses back to power to arrive at a fair settlement offering.
Customers that have been impacted, and qualify for compensation, will automatically receive payment as per Ofgem’s guidelines:
Those who did not have power restored after 48 hours will receive £70, and a subsequent £70 for each 12-hour period that they do not have supply thereafter. There is no cap on these payments for this storm event.
SSEN will make payments by cheque as soon as is reasonably practicable following restoration of all customers. There is no need for customers to call them to request this as payments will be made automatically.
In addition, the energy firm will reimburse all reasonable accommodation and food costs incurred and ask customers to send receipts to claim a refund to Storm.Payments@ssen.co.uk
The SSEN spokesperson said: "Recognising the significant impact of Storm Arwen, we are exploring further enhanced levels of support for our customers and communities and will make a further announcement early next week.
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