Almost 100,000 Scots suffered from power outages during Storm Eowyn and many are still waiting on it being restored. Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said at 9.30pm on Friday, January 24, there were 37, 320 homes still without power after the storm.
Scottish Power also confirmed last night they were working to restore power to 57,000 homes. Around 60,000 SSEN customers have now had their supplies restored after after Storm Eowyn battered the country with high winds.
SSEN say the exceptional wind speeds and challenging conditions mean it’s likely to take a number of days for their engineers to be able to safely complete all necessary repairs on affected parts of the network.
They have brought in additional teams and contractors and based them in the areas affected by the storm. The size of their response team is now at least 10 times the usual level.
As part of their wider support package, customers with no power for more than 12 hours are entitled to £30 per person for every day without power, to cover the cost of food and drink.
Text messages have been sent to almost 170,000 more vulnerable customers in the north of Scotland, giving them help and advice on how to in case they lose power.
SSEN’s Director of Customer Operations for the north of Scotland, Andy Smith, said: “It’s been a day of sustained storm-force winds, the like of which we’ve not seen here for many years. Storm Éowyn has significantly affected the electricity network across Scotland.
“We’re now getting a fuller picture of the extent of damage caused by this storm, and what we’re finding indicates that some major repairs will need to be carried out. As soon as these dangerous winds subside, we’ll get to work on the network and do this as safely and as quickly as we can.
“However, in some cases, it’s likely to take a few days to fully restore supplies. We’ll do all we can to support our customers and communities while we carry out these repairs, and I’d like to thank people for their patience while works are completed.”
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