Andrew has written to the Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) following the widespread power outages in West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine over the weekend. Thousands of constituents were left without power, which for many who run on electric only, meant another prolonged spell without heating.
Andrew said:
“It’s like groundhog day, once again we experience a storm, once again the lights go out. Storm Arwen may have caught network providers out but this is fast becoming an annual occurrence and it’s not acceptable”
In recent years, the North East of Scotland has suffered at the hands of several storms, and reviews into network security and ‘lessons learnt’ briefings took place in the aftermath. However, Andrew said that Storm Otto has proved there is clearly still much more to do. He adds that local authorities, network providers and representatives like himself cannot continue to offer assurances if the same issue is repeating itself on a regular basis.
Andrew first wrote to SSEN following Storm Arwen and held further meetings with the company to discuss resilience. However, he says it is disappointing to hear that once again trees falling onto lines has been a key issue during this latest storm, despite the assurance that a tree felling exercise was taking place to ensure trees close to power lines were removed.
He said:
“Trees falling on lines was one of the key reasons given for such major, widespread outages during Arwen. SSEN committed to undertaking the removal of trees that were in close proximity to power lines, and were at risk of bringing them down. I appreciate that the network is vast, and a lot of trees require to be considered, but we are over two years on from Arwen, the same problem should not be reoccurring on such a regular basis (Corrie and Malik in 2022 being the last example)”
Another concern relates to the prioritisation of reconnection. Many areas of the constituency are off grid for gas, and many homes are solely reliant on electric. Andrew has previously asked if SSEN takes this into consideration when prioritising a response and would like to discuss this further.
He has called for an urgent meeting with representatives from SSEN to discuss these matters and seek action to ensure that the North East of Scotland does not continue to experience major power outages.
He added:
"The Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks play a vital role in our energy security, but we cannot continue to have widespread power outages in the North East of Scotland. We need urgent action to ensure that lessons are learned from these repeated incidents, and that we have a reliable and resilient electricity network that can keep our constituents warm and safe during extreme weather events."
