Unplanned Power Cuts

At NIE Networks, one of our main priorities is to ensure that you have an uninterrupted supply of electricity. Electricity networks often have power cuts and voltage fluctuations which are outside of our control.

Our network is designed to keep voltage within statutory limits. However, it is not technically feasible to design and build a network that will not be subject to some level of power cuts and voltage fluctuations.

We work continually to reduce disruptions to electricity supplies and we quickly restore power when problems occur. We cannot control power cuts such as those caused by severe weather.  We implement measures to maintain power quality and improve our network.

What you can do to protect your equipment?

Safe and effective use of electricity also depends on the quality of your household electrical installation including wiring. There are steps you can take to protect your electrical appliances:

• Purchase electrical equipment that comply with the British Standards Institution
• Give attention to where the items are stored and how they are ventilated
• Unplug electrical items when you experience an interruption to your electricity supply
• Fit surge protection devices to sensitive appliances such as computers and televisions. These can be purchased from your local DIY store or electrical retailer.

Fit a UPS device

In addition for businesses, the fitting of an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) or a similar device can protect equipment such as computers and tablets, televisions, alarm systems, central heading time clocks and TV cable boxes from damage by over-voltage or under-voltage.

These protection devices should meet the National Standards set by the British Standards Institution. Three-phase equipment can be fitted with protection that disconnects all phases of supply in the event of low voltage or loss of power. Make sure your insurance policy is up to date and that it covers damage to electrical appliances.

Seek professional advice

Installations, appliances, fuse boards and wiring should comply with BS 7671 'Requirements for Electrical Installation Contracting'. Any alterations should be made by an electrical contractor who is a member of a recognised regulatory body.

• Check your trip switch – this checks if it is a problem with the electrics in your property.
• If possible – see if your neighbours are also without power or if the street lights are off.
• Check for power cuts in your area. Powercheck provides real-time fault information map – is your power cut on it?
• Report it online if you can't see the power cut in your area or message us on WhatsApp.
  

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• Have your Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN) or your postcode and house number handy.
• Keep safe: Never approach broken lines or damaged poles. Report a dangerous situation by calling us on 03457643643.

The most important thing to remember is: keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed!

• A refrigerator will keep food cold for about 4 hours if the door is kept closed.
• A full freezer will keep temperature for about 48 hours (24 hours if half-full). If your freezer is not full, group packages so they form an “igloo” to protect each other. Place them to one side or on a tray so that if they begin thawing, their juices won’t get on other foods.
• If the power is going to be out for an extended period of time, buy block ice to keep the refrigerator as cold as possible.

More information is available from the Food Standards Agency.

We are unable to pay to cover freezer contents. You may wish to contact your home insurance provider.

However, if your power was out for more than 24 hours for reasons other than a severe weather event you may be due compensation. For example, compensation will not be paid following the Storm Éowyn severe weather event. Read our guaranteed standards for more information.

You can also read more about:

• Keeping the food in your freezer safe

• Keeping your equipment safe

The legislation behind our guaranteed standards recognises exceptional events and allows us to apply an exemption, which means that no guaranteed standard payments would be due.

We will apply an exemption on the basis of severe weather where the number of faults affecting the high voltage network exceeds 13 times the normal operations.

Other instances when an exemption may apply include when we are unable to access a property or where the customers agrees to the electricity not being restored within the given timescales.

A planned power cut or interruption means that your electricity supply may be temporarily interrupted so that we can carry out essential maintenance on the network safely, make improvements and reduce the chance of unplanned power cuts. We will notify you about planned interruptions in advance. You should receive a postcard from NIE Networks that provides you with the times and dates of the planned work. If you have a query about a planned interruption please get in touch.

If we need to cancel planned work we will try to notify you in advance and if this is not possible we will notify customers about cancellations on Twitter @NIElectricity.

Often with an unplanned power cut the cause of the power cut is outside our control (for example, lightning may strike our electricity network) so we will not be able to give you warning. We will always try to restore your supply as soon as possible.

You can monitor progress using our powercheck application or report a power cut online. If you have medical support equipment that relies on power, then we advise you to join our critical care register for updates.

There are service standards that we must meet under regulations agreed with the Utility Regulator. These include rules on how quickly we must restore electricity in normal circumstances when someone loses power, and the compensation we must pay if we don’t meet the standards. During extreme weather, the service standard for restoring power does not apply.

What compensation you can claim depends on how severe the weather was. This is set out in our licence.
 
Our licence defines a ‘severe weather event’ as one where the number of high-voltage faults experienced as a result of the event is 13 times higher than the daily average number of high-voltage faults. As Storm Éowyn went over this threshold it is classified as a severe weather event, so the standards do not apply and you cannot claim compensation.

Since 2023 electricity network companies in England, Scotland and Wales have had a scheme to pay severe-weather compensation. The cost of compensation under that scheme is paid for by electricity customers.

If any loss or damage was caused as a result of the storm, contact your insurer to make a claim. To support your claim, we can send you a letter confirming that your property was without power as a result of the storm.

Each insurer will have their own processes and timescales, so you need to check with your insurance company.

We suggest you speak to an independent advice provider such as Advice NI or the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland.

If you rely on electricity for your health needs, you can register online using the link below

The Medical Care Register is a service to give people who rely on electricity for healthcare needs
up-to-date information during a power cut or a planned interruption to your supply. If you are on the register and your property loses power, we can arrange for crews to prioritise getting your power back on as quickly as possible. We recognise your phone number when you call us, and we will make sure that we give you the most accurate information that we have about the estimated time it will take us to restore power to your premises so that you can make informed choices about your healthcare needs while you have no power.
 
There are 929,000 properties connected to our network.  Currently, 27,000 properties are on our Medical Customer Care Register. It is vital that these households have plans in place for if they lose power. We will not provide a generator for your property during severe weather events.

As in previous severe weather events, we told the Utility Regulator that Storm Éowyn met the threshold to be classified as a severe weather event and that we were exempt from (did not have to meet) normal standards of service as it was not reasonably possible to restore supplies within the specified timescale.

We have a rolling plan for cutting down trees or branches to prevent them from accidentally coming into contact with overhead power lines. This plan does not cut down all trees that could fall onto our network. It is not always possible to get permission from private landowners to remove trees on their property.

The cost of putting cables underground is extremely high. We put cables underground where reasonably possible, taking account of cost and technical standards.

We have an Emergency Response Plan which comes into effect when weather forecasts indicate that severe weather is likely.  It suspends all normal activities and alerts us and our partner organisations of the need to provide additional resources.
 
Under the plan we must direct all our resources to Local Incident Centres in the areas that are affected by the severe weather. For example, for Storm Éowyn we expanded our contact centre into a second location in Belfast to increase the number of calls we could receive from people who had lost power. 
 
We put our Emergency Response Plan was in effect from 23 January until power was restored to all homes and businesses.

We are part of a consortium of electricity network companies in Europe, the UK and Ireland that help each other during severe weather events. After Storm Éowyn we brought 420 people from these companies to Northern Ireland to help us get power back as quickly as possible. We also worked with government agencies to support our efforts to help families and businesses affected by the storm.

We have three main priorities when we respond to severe weather events.

1. Public safety
   We send our teams to all locations where we know that a wire is on or close to the ground, which is usually because a tree has fallen and pulled the wires down with it. Our team will disconnect the wire so that it is not causing an electrical danger to members of the public. We then arrange the materials and staff to carry out permanent repairs.
2. Providing information
   We provide those who have lost power the most accurate information we have so they can make reasonable plans for the period they expect to be without power. We rely on members of the public to call us with information about the location of the damage so that we can make this information available as quickly as possible.
3. Restoring power
   We send all available people, materials and machinery to make the network safe and restore power.
   • Our first priority is to send crews to fix damage which has resulted in a loss of power to critical national infrastructure (for example, hospitals, airports, and water pumping and treatment sites)
   • We then prioritise fixing damage to restore power to the largest number of homes and businesses
   • We check the Medical Care Register to make sure that those who have the greatest need for electricity get it back as quickly as possible
   • We work methodically through each location where damage has been caused to the network and safely restore power to everyone as quickly as possible.

For each fault, the individual circumstances and engineering requirements need to be considered to decide the priority.

We do all that we can to restore power to every home, farm and business as quickly as it is safe to do so.