How often do you get power cuts where you live?

[Powercutsaibu]

Out of interest how many power cuts does your area have? I am in a northern village on the outskirts of a large city, I would describe my setting as semi rural, as in we have village vibes, loads of farm land nearby, country pubs and narrow b roads but 20 minutes by car you are in the city centre.

We get a power cut of more than 15 minutes monthly, and a blip where it goes off for a second our so every couple of weeks. It’s not my property it’s whole street or postcode area. Is this the norm now?

I have lived in the same area 15 years and moved three times (within the same start of post code) and it’s only the last couple of years it’s gotten this bad. A couple months ago we was out of power for hours at a time across multiple days.

My recent move, I am just have electric and after yet another 2 hour power cut this morning I am panicking a bit heating in the winter!

Coastal south East, outskirts of a village with fields all around. Maybe 1 power cut in 5yrs.

We've had solar panels for 1 yr. Majority of solar panel brands don't automatically take over in the case of a power cut! They too turn off! The only company we found that provided a seamless change over was Enphase. The electrics were recently turned off to the street due to tree trimming for 5hrs. We were the only house in the street which had electrics.

I live in one of the hilltop communities above Hebden Bridge and for the last 5 years we’ve been getting power cuts ALL THE TIME.

The power goes off for hours and hours on end, often in the evening when it’s cold and dark. It’s an absolute joke.

When you have kids to feed and keep warm, let alone some residents who have medical equipment that relies on power, it makes you so angry that the shareholders continue to make a fortune from our bills whilst we have to live like this.

I’ve just looked back over the texts from Northern Powergrid and these are the dates we were without power for hours and hours. The odd flick of a power cut doesn’t generate messages from them, so these were the times our homes had a sustained period of 3-10 hours of power cut.

2021
22nd July
30th Nov
11th Dec

2022
20th Oct
26th Nov

2023
9th Sept
21st Sept
22nd Sept
28th Sept
2nd Nov
4th Dec
21st Dec
22nd Dec

2024
18th June
23rd Aug
5th Nov

2025
20th Feb
7th July
27th Nov

2026
29th March
5th April
21st April
3rd May
5th June

Many years ago when we had not long moved into our previous house, power cuts were a regular thing (almost weekly) and often lasted hours.
It was a village but not remote (I could drive to town in 20mins) but for years we suffered these failures which turned out to be a damaged / overloaded cable. For some reason identifying the cause, planning and ultimately installing the replacement (underground) cable took around 5yrs!
My OH installed a decent sized generator which allowed us to keep the essentials running. The only problem was that we were fully electric and although the generator was bigger than your average camping set-up, there was no way it could handle the NSH or cooking a full dinner in the oven/hob so compromise was the name of the game.

West coast of Scotland here. Every year we have them. After storms the power goes down due to cables being snapped by falling branches. Worst last year was 3 days. However I have a gas hob and wood burning stove. I suggest you get a gas cannister heater-if such a thing still exists. Lots of thermals and a hat torch so you can be hands free. Also, maybe a battery pack and a lamp which can be pre-charged and run from a battery pack. Dunelm has some.

heater and power bank.

https://amzn.eu/d/0hubQC1O

https://amzn.eu/d/0inQeMQR

Been in my house 10 years. We've only had one power cut, it was caused by someone trying to steal cables from a railway line.

We had a how to prepare for power cuts pamphlet the other day.

I have a pretty good camping set up including a decent power bank, I also make candles as a hobby so I think I'm OK.

Just outside of a major midlands city. 5-6 times a year at least. Plus flickers that last a couple of seconds on top of that.

Last time was last week - seven hours..

Yorkshire too and quite regular

Rechargeable lamp

https://www.marksandspencer.com/mini-rio-rechargeable-led-table-lamp/p/hbp60745488?intid=mobile_app_pdp_share&color=Green

I can't remember ever having one.

We get the occasional power cut once or twice a year during thunderstorms.

Funnily enough though, we've had two power cuts in the last week. I blame the developers building new housing round here. Whenever they are digging the road for new utilities, they cock it up. I also blame Anglian Water, who haven't properly maintained the pipes for decades and we're forever getting burst water mains in the area. That affects the electricity supply as well.

I live in a largish town in the South East and hardly ever get power cuts and even then only the lights-flickering-for-a-second kind.
I do remember the 3-day week though and still have a torch and candles ready just in case.

Frequently, rural village in South Cambridgeshire. Sometimes it's so quick we don't even notice but I'd say once or twice a week I get home and notice I've got to reset the time on the oven and microwave which is generally the telltale sign.

Been in current home 14 years. We get blips of it going off and coming back on within a few seconds, about once a month. Probably have a power cut about once every two years, the last one being recent going off at 3pm, coming back on sometime in the night - apparently a major fuse had broken.

Our previous house was around the corner. We had a couple of power cuts every year, the worst one just short of 24 hours and came back on, going back off within a minute -

Growing up in the 70's they were of course a regular thing. Doing homework by candle-light was a regular occurrence.
I think people forget the shortages, reduced working hours (3-day week anyone?), inflation, strikes, scheduled power-cuts and general shabbiness that was some of the 70's.☹️

Never. Or if there’s been one it’s lasted seconds, and I can’t recall any in the five years I’ve been here. The internet goes out occasionally though. SW London.

Live in a developing country. We’ve had one powercut in the past year we’ve been here. Our water, on the other hand, is not safe to drink and cuts out all the time.

Er, once in the last 15 years but I do live in London.
When I lived rurally it was more like once a week, though most were only a few seconds.

It's not unusual to lose power if you are outside the cities IME.

When I lived in an average sized city (200,000) the power went off once in 10 years IIRC although maybe I was not home enough to see it.

Now I live in a place maybe 10,000 and 5 miles away from a big city/town they are more regular, once every few months but often not for long.

There was I think a problem with the local substation a few years back where it used to trip once a month or so, but they eventually sorted that out.

You cannot really expect brilliant electrical connection out in the sticks. And when it does go down due to natural events (winds etc) then you need to expect to be prioritised for reconnection based on your size. They will always prioritise the work that reconnects the most number of people first.

So if you are living alone in the middle of nowhere backup is required.

@GasPanic Agreed. Before I moved to a rural area I lived in London and I can only remember one power cut in 30 years. It very rarely happens in cities but in a rural area you have to be prepared for it.

Sw London, we do get overnight outages occasionally as I have to reset the oven clock. No idea how long they last though.

Village in the SW - in the winter it's at least once a week for a few minutes. Monthly power cuts of 30 mins+

We live semi rurally in a village ten minutes from town and we get them all the time. I would say at least once a week on average. Often for short spaces of time but sometimes for several hours. We were told it was due to birds flying into power cables, but I’ve never heard of this before so who knows!

I've quit resetting my oven clock. We get the blips once or twice a month. Rural SW village. Power is rarely out for longer thankfully.

Can’t think of any in last decade (London)