Power cuts in rural Scotland

[Corporatepreggolady]

Hello! We're staying on the isle of mull and following Storm Amy, had a power cut that lasted three days. It's a cottage with electric heating and boiler so this left us without heat, hot water or any ability to cook as well as the lights being out. I grew up in a house that would have regular power cuts but we had gas heating and hot water, and never went out for this long, so this level of being off grid seems mad to me. It impacted many others locally. Being on an island in poor weather and very far from home, we couldn't simply leave.

It all just got me wondering how usual this is, and whether remote island communities get a fair deal with electricity. If this was say, Cambridge, without power for days, it would be national news. People seem to get on with it here but it is exceptionally difficult to live in a normal way

It might be called the National Grid but the Scottish Islands aren't connected. And as a PP said there's no gas grid either. Most houses have oil powered heating or modern houses have ground source heating or small wind turbines. And open fires (cutting peat for personal use is OK, but most people don't bother anymore because it's a lot of work). When I was a child we had a small power station in the main town in Orkney, now the islands produces more wind and wave power than they can use but it can't be exported due to not being connected to the grid so there's a campaign to change that. Orkney has been at the forefront of the development of green energy for decades (the largest wind turbine in Europe was erected in the 80s).

You get money for it too. We were off for 5 days in Arwen and got £800, plus money for food each day. You can also go to a hotel and they will reimburse costs.

I don’t think any of our rural wood burners are affecting your airways. I’ve no neighbours for three miles. You’d have to drive a mile down a private track to my house. Ban them in town sure but where we live, it’s survival. No fun being cut off by snow and no power and heat. Wood burner keeps us warm.

There was definitely provision on Mull. I know of at least three places in different locations operating as welfare units, providing hot food at no charge (funded by SSEN).

Hopefully this will be an ever improving picture as vehicle to load becomes more common - the battery on our electric car holds about 5 days worth of what our house uses and that ratio and the connectivity is likely to improve. I know this feature is tempting even some of the die-hard combustion lovers in rural America too.

If the islands are making more energy than they can use and they can't export it then load balancing with electric cars makes even more sense there than it does nationally.

My post should have been better saying nothing on Mull today 😊 I’m not saying there was never any provision!

Wood burners exist where I live, clearly I wasn't referring to your particular source of pollution.

I'm aware of the situation in Orkney. 🤣

Absolutely not.
It's not privilege to point out the reality of burning things!

We've be slowly killing our planet for years too.

The island of Eigg has developed its own community funded electricity system which is renewables based.

And all that oil and gas we're burning to keep warm isn't helping either.

The long and short of it is that green energy, by which I mean electricity generated from wind or solar power, is excellent - when the grid works. But when the power goes down - what do you do? Bearing in mind the likelihood of a power cut goes up quite significantly in the winter, when it's dark, cold, and probably more difficult to travel given there's probably extreme weather involved.

At the moment, solid fuel stoves are the most reliable way to keep yourself going when the grid goes down. You could always get a diesel generator, but I'm not sure that's going to be much better environmentally and at least wood is a renewable fuel.

North East Scotland here and power cuts are fairly regular through Autumn and Winter storms.
It's pretty mild at the moment usually we get them with snow on the ground.

Your not wrong in saying that elsewhere it would make national news but even Scottish govt is good at the silent treatment and inaction til day 5/6.

Many people have wood burners installed it's why there was a outcry and back track when Scottish govt tried to ban them from planning permissions etc. They really are a life line multiple times a season up here. Our longest power cut was 7 days in minus temps. Our wood burner kept us going as there was nowhere else to go with our dog.

We also have solar power banks, torches etc.

You do get very used to it. The air bnb owner should probably provide info on the local shelter point in a pack though

And this is why everyone was up in arms at the SNP loonies trying to ban wood burning stoves.

Errrr are nt the windfarms in mainly remote areas or at sea -maybe they should only supply those near to them rather than spend millions pyloning it across the country

We had to have our house phone connected to an online service recently so now if the power goes down for a while or you don’t have a mobile you are cut off

That’s a fairly recent development though. For decades, it was the other way around.

I think the community who live there full time will be well prepared

It's just unlucky you were there as a guest

I live very rurally and we have powercuts several times a year.

We have a large woodburner which keeps the main living area warm, we have plug in emergency lighting in a few key plug sockets (stairs, hallways) which run on battery if the power goes out although they are more about general fire safety all year round.

We have a back up power pack which is always kept charged up which we plug the modem and landline into and any phone chargers etc as needed so we can still call in/out and access information.

We have a gas camping stove and are well versed in 'campfire meals'. I over shop every winter always on high alert for potentially being stranded on the farm for a week.

The poster whining about log burner pollution has clearly never lived six miles further than the middle of nowhere in a stone house 4ft deep in snow and a cold and hungry farmer to defrost after 12 hrs of unburying sheep in huge snowdrifts.

We would have probably frozen to death without our log burner during beast from the east and Storm Arwen @Icannotthinkofagoodusernamerightnow, I don't think you have a clue about living outside of your urban bubble.

@scrowy yep well said!

Many on MN seem to love a wood burner rant without ever living the reality of harsher weather conditions not in urban sprawling areas.
They are definitely not for aesthetics up here, nor the posh thing to do but a life line on a regular basis throughout Autumn and Winter storm season.

It's not privilege to point out the reality of burning things!

Feel free not to use one then, I'll be keeping mine.

I live in Aberdeenshire. Since 2022 I am aware of at least 3 events where power cuts have exceeded 5 days in my area.

Many people round here also rely on private water, which more often than not requires a pump and so when the power goes out you can't even wash your hands or flush the toilets.

I can cope with most of it, but losing the water is the bit that pushes me over the edge.

Edited to add that, without fail, within 20 mins of our power going out the mobile signal goes too. Landlines are disappearing with fibre and now rely on power.

The storms that take out the power inevitably take down trees so we are also nearly always blocked in.

My husband is away with work frequently and I could not be trusted to use a chainsaw. I worry often about what happens if one of my children gets seriously sick or injured during a power outage where we are blocked in and I can't even call for help.

I try not to worry too much about that. We have a fantastic air ambulance service which I fundraise for voraciously.

I know a land ambulance isn't coming to us in a proper emergency even in calm sunny weather. Anything that doesn't require air ambulance we will get to hospital ourselves quicker.

Most people have absolutely no idea what living rurally properly means. There's no corner shops. No fast food outlets. No deliveroo, no neighbours to borrow bread from. You are utterly fucked if you aren't prepared and you will freeze to death if you don't have a simple means of heating the house 'off grid'

Edited to add that, without fail, within 20 mins of our power going out the mobile signal goes too.

Same here, I have to call/message people sharpish before the mobile signal goes off. If the power goes out in the middle of the night it's too late by the time I wake up, so I've no way of contacting anyone. And BT are in the process of removing some phone boxes in the Highlands which leaves us even more cut off.

We were lucky in this latest storm. Broadband was off for 24 hours but at least the power stayed on.

I'm not personally burning oil or gas.

It's not a rant, it's pointing out reality. They're horrible things.
Just to clarify, I do live in quite a remote location.