Potential Power Outages
We would like to emphasise that planned outages are very unlikely however we want to ensure customers have all information about the potential.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has affected gas supplies across Europe and Britain. Britain generates nearly half of its electricity from gas, which means there could be electricity shortages this winter.
If there is a shortage, National Grid has several measures to ensure we have enough electricity. As a last resort, there could be a series of power cuts. In most cases, there would be some time to prepare for this.
What would a scheduled power cut look like?
Who will be affected?
All areas across Britain could be affected.
How will it work?
Not everyone will be affected at the same time. If there is not enough energy to go around, one or more areas could have the power cut off. In towns and cities, whole neighbourhoods would be without power.
When and how long?
There may be a series of scheduled power cuts lasting around three hours at a time. It is most likely that power cuts would be around teatime and into the evening, but they could happen during the day.
Notification of power cut, how will I know if a power cut will happen?
Government and National Grid will widely publicise that scheduled power cuts are going to happen through news and social media channels and their websites. This will likely be one or two days in advance of the outage. But these power cuts may happen without warning. The warning from Government and National Grid will not provide personalised information about when a power cut will impact your area specifically.
How will I be able to find out if a power cut affects me?
If a scheduled power cut were to happen, you would be directed to a website where you can enter your postcode to find out when your area will be affected. Information about the website will be widespread and provided by a number of sources, including the government, one or two days in advance.
There are things you can do to prepare.
Think about how a three-hour power cut would affect you and make a plan.
Do you need to consider getting an uninterrupted power supply for your business
Backing up servers
Resetting servers
Provide your supplier with information on any business-critical supplies
Review continuity plans to take into account potential disruption
Where you can see your Alpha Identifier on your bill to check which block you are in.
(How it will look on our bill)
