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Original poster

No electricity since 03.30 a.m

130 replies

Nopowerflower · 21/10/2021 15:54

We had a power cut at 03.30 this morning and still don’t have electricity. UK power network keeps pushing back the time power will be restored. They are now estimating 9.30 p.m.

My DS is at home with Covid which means we are all self isolating and can’t even leave the house to get a hot drink.

We are all freezing. DH and I both working from home but obviously without WiFi couldn’t do our jobs. My manager made me take today as annual leave.

I am so so angry. DS is really suffering with Covid & I couldn’t even make him a hot drink or meal. It’s getting colder even with all the blankets we have. I rang UK power network and asked about emergency generator they said no we just have to wait it out.

Can’t face more hours of sitting in the cold with no idea when power will come back on. All our phones are about to die as we haven’t been able to charge them so can’t even watch anything on phone.

Thoroughly fed up.

OP posts:
worriedatthemoment · 22/10/2021 11:54

@gamerchick what if you live in a small house / flat - don't have a car ? Most people unless they live in an area where this happens a lot don't have all those supplies to hand and not all have someewhere to store them

Original poster
Nopowerflower · 22/10/2021 11:55

Yes we had a big supermarket delivery on Tuesday and of course everything in fridge and freezer gone off by now. I did ask about compensation for this but they said it’s up to our home insurance to cover. We are currently entitled to the whopping sum of £70 compensation which again we have to apply for.

OP posts:
LIZS · 22/10/2021 11:55

Is there any community hub or community centre locally? They might make it available for hot food and wifi. What are other households doing?

worriedatthemoment · 22/10/2021 11:56

@gamerchick and your back up plan won't save your food in the fridge or your freezer will it ?

LIZS · 22/10/2021 11:58

@Nopowerflower

Yes we had a big supermarket delivery on Tuesday and of course everything in fridge and freezer gone off by now. I did ask about compensation for this but they said it’s up to our home insurance to cover. We are currently entitled to the whopping sum of £70 compensation which again we have to apply for.
Keep track of all your costs and losses. If it drags on or they try to refuse to compensate can you get your local councillor or mp involved.
worriedatthemoment · 22/10/2021 11:59

@BrieAndChilli lucky you not sure my landlord will let us install a wood burner
Your gas boiler needs electric to work to heat water
Also if its off too long none if that helps your food in fridge or freezer

MatildaIThink · 22/10/2021 12:02

@Nopowerflower

Yes we had a big supermarket delivery on Tuesday and of course everything in fridge and freezer gone off by now. I did ask about compensation for this but they said it’s up to our home insurance to cover. We are currently entitled to the whopping sum of £70 compensation which again we have to apply for.
In terms of compensation you are legally entitled to the below, your contents insurance will cover and amount of food from your fridge and freezer, but with the excess and the potential premium rise it almost certainly is not worth it.

----------
Local network companies have 24 hours to restore supplies if more than 5,000 homes are affected by a single fault.

If you are cut off for 12 hours or more, you can claim:

£75 as a domestic customer
£150 as a non-domestic customer.
You can get a further £35 for each additional 12 hours of being off supply, up to a total of £300.

www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/check-compensation-rules-power-cut-or-supply-problem

worriedatthemoment · 22/10/2021 12:06

Instead of people saying have a back up we should be going to our MP's to make sure this isn't regular after all we are planning to have all electric cars , ban gas boilers etc etc
If we don't have enough electric now ?
And for them to say we don't have a tight to have continuous electric , that we pay for , they can Fuck off with that attitude thats the last thing people want to hear so no wonder people are irate.
I know in some countries power cuts can happen regularly but generators are often the norm, can see all terraced houses and flats in uk being able to fit one
Its really something we have to consider when we are planning pretty much all electric
If I was a neighbour on street and was aware I would of offered space in freezer , fridge if I had some to save some food - hot water regularly , warm meal , blankets etc anything I had that would help

Original poster
Nopowerflower · 22/10/2021 12:10

Yes the “continuous electricity is not a right” comment really annoyed me and I felt like replying “continuous payment of electricity should not be a right then”. I have a direct debit set up for our electricity and it’s a large part of our household budget.

OP posts:
MatildaIThink · 22/10/2021 12:21

@worriedatthemoment

Instead of people saying have a back up we should be going to our MP's to make sure this isn't regular after all we are planning to have all electric cars , ban gas boilers etc etc If we don't have enough electric now ? And for them to say we don't have a tight to have continuous electric , that we pay for , they can Fuck off with that attitude thats the last thing people want to hear so no wonder people are irate. I know in some countries power cuts can happen regularly but generators are often the norm, can see all terraced houses and flats in uk being able to fit one Its really something we have to consider when we are planning pretty much all electric If I was a neighbour on street and was aware I would of offered space in freezer , fridge if I had some to save some food - hot water regularly , warm meal , blankets etc anything I had that would help
In reality power cuts in the UK are not regular, though they possibly will be in another 10-20 years if the country (and so the taxpayer) is not prepared to invest long term.

You do not have a right to a continues electrical supply and you only pay for it when you use it, if you are not using units you do not get charged.

We really do not need to consider everyone having generators, that is the worst possible option. Ideally long term we will have much more generation capacity (nuclear, wind and solar), with battery systems for load balancing (at the grid level and potentially at the household level as well).

I am sure many people would help if aware, but many might not know. Yesterday after the curtains were closed I did not look out the window and even then, if some houses had light the presumption would have just been that some people our out. Saying that our road has a WhatsApp group, so if some people were having issues it would have been mentioned and others would have offered, but I accept that not every street has a community spirit.

Scoobygang7 · 22/10/2021 12:45

@MatildaIThink you do get charged even if you don't use. That's why they have daily standard charges.

GalesThisMorning · 22/10/2021 12:47

We lose power every winter. We have a wood burner, gas stove, wind up torches, candles, solar charged power bank for phones etc. Without all of that it would be miserable!! I think people should start to get some supplies in as loss of power can happen to any of us and can take a long time to come back on!

etulosba · 22/10/2021 12:47

It would make more sense to get solar panels and a Powerwall.

There is quite a significant difference in the cost of installing a solid fuel stove and a solar Powerwall system. The battery alone is around £8-10k

RampantIvy · 22/10/2021 12:50

We have solar panels, but we still lose power in a power cut.

gamerchick · 22/10/2021 12:58

[quote worriedatthemoment]@gamerchick and your back up plan won't save your food in the fridge or your freezer will it ? [/quote]
That's what the inverters are for. Do you know what one is?

Also if you keep your freezer shut it takes days to defrost fully and things don't go off that quick. The things that do defrost that can be cooked and frozen like meat then it saves waste.

You can be sneery at me all you want, I'm literally not arsed. We're too dependant as a country that we fall apart when there's some sort of disruption.

There are going to he some bumpy times coming the more strain we put on the grid. If you want to stick your fingers in your ears and go lalala then crack on.

AdoraBell · 22/10/2021 13:02

Hope it’s sorted soon OP

madisonbridges · 22/10/2021 13:07

It's so cold at the moment, I can't think that all of your chilled food has gone off in less than 36 hours. But power cuts are awful - we just don't realise how much electricity is tied up in our everyday life. I remember our power being cut for repairs and I thought no problem, the laptop's charged, I'll get on with some work online. Forgetting that no electricity = no WiFi. Grrr.

EffOrf · 22/10/2021 13:08

I think we have an inverter, it's just a battery thing isn't it that you put petrol in, though no good in the recent fuel shortages, they are used as back up for caravanning and stuff like that. We would probably have to decamp to the caravan on the drive if our power went off and use the gas

MatildaIThink · 22/10/2021 13:10

@RampantIvy

We have solar panels, but we still lose power in a power cut.
That is why you have the Powerwall as well, it provides backup and load shifting as required.

etulosba
I know they are not exactly cheap, but then neither are wood burning stoves, they cost around £1-3k for the stove and depending on you home installation can be another £1-3k on top.

gamerchick · 22/10/2021 13:17

@EffOrf

I think we have an inverter, it's just a battery thing isn't it that you put petrol in, though no good in the recent fuel shortages, they are used as back up for caravanning and stuff like that. We would probably have to decamp to the caravan on the drive if our power went off and use the gas
There are different types. Clips on to a car battery. The cheap ones are good for charging things and to plug a lamp in maybe. There are other ones that can run fridges and tellys etc. Just handy to have around imo.
girlmom21 · 22/10/2021 14:53

@Nopowerflower can you please let me know what phone you have where the battery lasts this long with lots of MN use and phone calls?

Genuine question because I want one!

girlmom21 · 22/10/2021 14:54

@Nopowerflower

Yes the “continuous electricity is not a right” comment really annoyed me and I felt like replying “continuous payment of electricity should not be a right then”. I have a direct debit set up for our electricity and it’s a large part of our household budget.
Do they not have to refund you for the time you have no power?
Livedandlearned · 22/10/2021 15:16

@girlmom21 I was wondering the same last night!

etulosba · 22/10/2021 16:16

Do they not have to refund you for the time you have no power?

Apparently, they pay compensation….

How much you’ll get

If fewer than 5,000 homes were affected, you’ll get:

£75 if the power was out for longer than 12 hours
£35 for each following 12 hours
If more than 5,000 homes were affected, you’ll get:

£75 if the power was out for longer than 24 hours
£35 for each following period of 24 hours up to a maximum of £300
If the power cut was caused by bad weather, for example a storm damaged power lines - you’ll get the following compensation regardless of how many homes were affected:

£70 if the power was off for 24 hours (this can be 48 hours if it was a severe storm)
£70 for each following 12 hours, up to a maximum of £700

kirinm · 22/10/2021 17:00

[quote girlmom21]@Nopowerflower can you please let me know what phone you have where the battery lasts this long with lots of MN use and phone calls?

Genuine question because I want one! [/quote]
The OP said her neighbour had allowed her to charge her phone.