Safety guidelines

 We aim to provide a safe and reliable electricity supply but unfortunately sometimes faults can occur which cause interruptions to our customers' electricity supply.

In these circumstances, to report the loss of your electricity supply to us or any concern about the safety of the meter, or of our electricity overhead lines or underground cables, at any time of the day or night, please telephone us on:-

0800 731 6945

Our advice if you lose supply

Although we endeavour to maintain our networks to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for planned outages, there will inevitably be times when it is necessary to halt the supply of electricity. The guidelines in this section have been designed to assist you in preparing for a planned outage, or to combat an unplanned emergency outage effectively. Of course, if you have further questions, we will be very pleased to help.

Fridges and freezers

As long as you keep the opening of freezer/fridge doors to an absolute minimum, most foodstuffs will remain unaffected by a power cut. Current standards of appliance manufacture should allow the food to remain frozen for up to 12 hours (and often 24 hours for chest freezers). Do check your appliance instruction manual for further guidelines.

Tips:

  • Try and prepare for a planned outage by taking foodstuffs that will not perish (and which you intend to use that day) from the fridge/freezer
  • Should your freezer have a ‘fast freeze’ mode, activate this option approximately 60 minutes prior to a planned outage

Heating and cooking

If your central heating systems and water boilers rely on electricity to operate the pumps and/or control mechanisms (most do), this will mean that any outage to supply will eliminate your main source of heat.

Electric cookers/ovens will not work in an outage – and also some gas appliances will not work if they have electronic controls, although some can be lit manually.

Tips:

  • Remember to reset any electronic timers after supply is restored
  • For planned outages, organise hot food in advance e.g. soups and stews in a flask. Also hot drinks such as tea and coffee are advisable
  • Purchase a portable gas heater that can be used in a supply outage
  • Have blankets and warm clothing easily accessible should you have an unexpected outage in cold periods

Tropical fish

Without electricity supply to operate the heater, filters and pumps for most tropical tanks, the water temperature will fall, especially in colder weather. Most fish will not suffer if the power is lost for just 2-3 hours.

Tips:

  • Fill used drink bottles with warm water just prior to the outage and place inside the fish tank – this will maintain the temperature at an acceptable level
  • Invest in a low-cost battery operated air pump to use when supply is lost.

Consult your local pet store/aquarium centre for further advice on managing power cuts efficiently and with the least amount of stress to your fish.

Burglar alarms

Ensure your security systems are installed by a company approved by The National Security Inspectorate (NSI). They are an independent regulatory body who monitor security firms to ensure that only high quality, reliable security systems that meet British Standards are supplied.

If your system has been approved by NSI, the system should have a battery back up so that its operation cannot be affected by a loss of electricity supply.

Tips:

Check whether or not your system is installed by an NSI Recognised Firm. You can contact NSI for a complete list of recognised firms in your area by calling 0870 205 0000, visit their website at http://www.nsi.org.uk or email at nsi@nsi.org.uk.

Computers

It is essential that you regularly save your work when operating your PC, and to take frequent back-ups onto separate media (e.g. floppy disks, CD-ROMs).

Tips:

  • For planned outages, ensure you switch off your PC before the advised outage time
  • Determine whether your software has an ‘autosave’ facility and consider activating this option

Contact your computer dealer for more information regarding other safety devices (such as an Uninterrupted Power Supply) that could save your work being corrupted or lost altogether.

Telephone systems

Many telephones today now have a mains plug. In most cases, without an electricity supply these phones will not operate.

Tips:

  • Ensure your mobile phone is fully charged prior to any planned outage
  • Should you feel ‘at risk’ without constant access to a telephone, invest in a telephone system or single phone that does not rely on an electricity supply to operate

Further Safety Information

Please see our section ‘Your Safety ’

You can also find further safety information on the following websites:

Health and Safety Executive website

Energy Networks Association

The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem)