With over 161,000 customers already signed up to its Priority Services Register, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) is encouraging more of its Thames Valley customers, who may need extra support during a power cut, to find out how they could benefit from the free additional service.

Across Thames Valley, SSEN has almost one million customers living in rural and urban areas across the region from Hungerford to west London, and all with individual needs. For some, being without electricity, even for a short time, can be a distressing and difficult situation; particularly for those relying on specialist electrical medical equipment, such as a kidney dialysis machine or ventilator.

SSEN's Priority Services Register (PSR) is a free, tailored service available to all who meet its criteria - from a new-born baby to an elderly relative being cared for at home - and the distribution operator is encouraging its customers in the Thames Valley area to find out more about PSR and how it could assist them.

Customers are eligible for SSEN's Priority Services Register if they:

  • Are deaf or hard of hearing
  • Have a disability
  • Live with children under five
  • Are blind or partially sighted
  • Have a chronic illness
  • Use medical equipment/aid reliant on electricity
  • Are over 60
  • Would benefit from PSR services for any other reason, even if temporarily

Danielle Royce is SSEN's Head of Region in Thames Valley and explains more:

"While there are currently over 161,000 Thames Valley residents already signed up to our Priority Services Register, we are aware that there are still areas of our region where more customers could benefit by registering.

"Following on from recent storms and flooding, we want to raise awareness of the free service and enable as many of our eligible customers as possible to sign up so they have peace of mind, whatever the weather or circumstances."

SSEN produces its Priority Services Register leaflets in 14 different languages; all of which are also available to read and download from its website, by going to: www.ssen.co.uk/psr. The website will also translate every page to over 100 languages, and read 33 of them aloud, simply by clicking on the Accessibility 'triple A' button at the bottom left of each page.

Danielle added: "We want to make it easy for customers to sign up and to assure them that we're here to help. That's why we have our leaflets and PSR information available in different languages, so the information can be shared and discussed more easily with family and friends whose first language may not be English.

"If you have family members or friends that you think would benefit from the additional services, please speak to them about it and help them to register, so we can help them feel safe and reassured in the event of a power cut."

To find out more, please go to the Priority Services Register page on our website, where SSEN's multi-language PSR leaflets can also be accessed and downloaded.

For further helpful advice on preparing for and dealing with a power cut, please visit our website.