Scottish and Southern Electricity (SSEN) is carrying out one of its biggest ever one-day projects in and around Haslemere next Tuesday (6th), when more than 100 staff will be installing new equipment, doing essential maintenance and cutting trees and vegetation away from overhead power-lines.
The £150,000 project, which will see local electricity supplies turned off between 09:00 and 16:00 to allow the teams to work in safety, has been months in the planning, and will go a long way to ensuring that supplies in and around Haslemere are as robust as possible ahead of winter.
As part of the day's activities, four sections of overhead lines will be brought down to allow the tree-cutting teams unhindered access, and this part of the project will minimise the risk of trees and other vegetation being blown into the lines during high winds and storms.
Ahead of next Tuesday, teams from SSEN have been hand-delivering letters to all of the customers whose power will be off during the day, with particular focus on those who are on the company's Priority Service Register.
Chris Slingsby, SSEN's Head of Customer Operations, said: "We want to do everything we can to make sure that our network is in the best possible condition ahead of winter, and the work we will be doing in and around Haslemere next Tuesday is an essential part of our plans. To ensure that our engineers are able to do all of this work safely, we need to turn the power off during the daytime when they are working. We have hand-delivered letters to all of the customers who will be affected by this, as well as calling and visiting customers who are on our Priority Service Register to see if there is any other help and support we can offer on the day."
As parts of SSEN's overhead equipment straddles roads in the area, the company has also been in consultation with the local Highways Department and temporary road closures will be in effecton the day, with advance notice of the closures now in place on the affected roads.