Storm Floris was an exceptional summer storm – with record wind speeds and widespread storm-force gusts causing considerable network damage. At the height of summer, we've mounted a huge storm response operation that’s comparable to those usually seen in the depths of winter.
We know it’s been a challenging few days for our customers. It’s taken some time to for us to complete hundreds of repairs in some parts of the network because of fallen trees hindering access, and the sheer volume of damage to overhead lines caused by this week’s destructive winds.
Your patience and understanding while we’ve gone about this massive task has been appreciated by all of us here at Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, and with the final customers who lost supplies on Monday now reconnected, we’d like to say a big thank you to everyone in the communities we serve for their support while we’ve done this as safely and quickly as possible.
Our response in numbers
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We’ve restored power to nearly 72,000 households whose supplies were interrupted.
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A thousand-strong team has worked to fix faults and support affected customers.
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We’ve provided more than 7,500 hot meals to people awaiting reconnection.
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Proactive contact was made with 100,000 vulnerable customers ahead of the storm arriving via text or by phone call.
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30,000 people have been in touch with us via phone or social media; with average waiting times for those calling us of around 90 seconds.
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Dozens of doors have been knocked to check in with more vulnerable customers.
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There have been almost 1 million visits to our Power Track website, which has provided customers with vital information and updates, keeping our phones lines free throughout the storm for those who needed to call us
WATCH: Here's what happened when one of our teams who were out and about in Aberdeenshire helping the media cover the impact of #StormFloris actually found themselves as part of the fault-finding operation. SSE's Ross Easton explains all the different ways we respond to a storm.
Compensation and reimbursement
As part of SSEN’s support package, customers without power for more than 12 hours are entitled to £30 per person for every day off supply, to cover the cost of food and drink. People should keep hold of their receipts and claim costs back at www.ssen.co.uk/stormclaim.
Storm Floris has been confirmed as a Category 2 Severe Weather Event, which means customers without power for more than 48 hours continuously, will receive a Guaranteed Standards payment of £85.00 and a subsequent payment of £45.00 for each continuous 6-hour period that they did not have power thereafter.
Guaranteed Standards payments are issued automatically, and customers do not need to make a claim or contact us to receive this – you’ll be issued with cheques.
Andy Smith, SSEN Distribution’s Director of Customer Operations for the north of Scotland, says:
“Floris was an exceptional storm, which has called for an exceptional response from us. 1,000 people have been working hard to reconnect homes and support customers, while a huge volume of network reconstruction has been done in challenging conditions. I want to say thank you to everyone who’s played their part in this response, both from our own teams, and also those of our contract partners and fellow network operators who’ve willingly come to support us”.
“But as the restoration work draws to a close, I’d particularly like to thank all 72,000 customers whose supplies were interrupted for their patience and understanding while we’ve worked to rebuild the network as safely and as quickly as we could. The kindness shown to our teams working in communities, and the support given on social media over the past few days has been very much appreciated.
“Now supplies have been restored, I encourage those who lost power to take a look at the details of compensation that will be provided, and also to make a claim for reimbursement if they qualify.”