Select Committee on Trade and Industry First Report


Part 1: Lessons Learned from the October 2002 Storms


1  Background

4. During Sunday 27 October 2002, storms with winds gusting up to 100 mph hit much of England and Wales, causing widespread damage to the electricity distribution network. Up to two million customers were affected by loss of electricity supply because of the storms, with supplies in East Anglia, South West England and West Wales being particularly disrupted. Most customers were reconnected within 18 hours, but the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) estimated at the time that nearly 10,000 customers were still without power on 1 November.[1] Supplies were not fully restored in the worst affected area, that served by EDF Energy's subsidiary company EPN (24seven), until Tuesday 5 November, 10 days later.[2]

5. It was clear from the outset that some distribution companies had handled the emergency much better than others. On 1 November 2002, the then Minister of State for Energy, Brian Wilson MP, appointed energy consultants British Power International (BPI) to carry out an investigation into the robustness of the electricity network and the performance of the various companies involved. In its report to the Minister of State, published on 19 December 2002,[3] BPI confirmed that it had found considerable variation in the performance of companies before and during the emergency in terms of their preparedness, response to advance warnings of adverse weather conditions, implementation of recovery plans and, just as important, communication with customers. The report also set out a series of recommendations for improved emergency preparedness and response procedures.

6. We decided to assess for ourselves the lessons to be learned from this event and the progress made by the electricity supply companies in addressing the issues identified by BPI. We also decided to review the arrangements for the payment of compensation to customers affected by power failures and the progress made by Ofgem in processing the compensation claims arising from the October storms.


1   DTI Press Notice, 1 November 2002 Back

2   App 5 Back

3   October 2002 Power System Emergency Post Event Investigation, British Power International, 16 December 2002 ('BPI Report') Back


 
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