Just been reconnected after the storm

[BritDownUnder]

Take 'em to court and see what the compensation is. I expect their defence will be on the lines of "Act of God" or "Force majeure".

I don't see why an organisation should maintain a large number of people in a call centre sitting idle just in case.

Now... after 15 years on this forum why don't you tell us how your preparations helped during your time "off the grid". Or do you just use this forum to spout anti-capitalist views.

[UndercoverElephant]

Take 'em to court and see what the compensation is. I expect their defence will be on the lines of "Act of God" or "Force majeure".

This is not worth replying to. You literally have got no idea what you are talking about. This is not an insurance claim.

[Potemkin Villager]

I wonder if you are making any progress in taking on the corporate National Grid machine? Good luck with your efforts but I suspect you may not be sailing with a fair wind.

Of course this sort of thing is just one feature of life at the end of the line. Our supply is frequently interrupted for periods of a few hours up to a few days but the frequency and length of interruptions has improved a lot over thirty years as ESB have replaced an awful lot of old rotten wooden poles over time. Also their customer service seems significantly better than what you experienced. Life can be quite peaceful for a few days without the background WIFI and 50Hz electromagnetic buzz all around provided you are equipped and this need be no more than a few lanterns and rechargeable torches and a means of cooking and keeping warm that do not need electricity.

I would say after three days or so one might be wishing for a more meaty battery/solar/wind combination though.......

[UndercoverElephant]

I wonder if you are making any progress in taking on the corporate National Grid machine? Good luck with your efforts but I suspect you may not be sailing with a fair wind.

Various things are happening. I have spoken to my MP's office, and they are aware of the situation. I think NG probably will pay up, and their evasiveness is because they don't want to acknowledge this in public, or even in private at this point in the process. They will sort out compensation "automatically" (i.e. based on notification date), in the hope that many people won't notice they are being diddled, and won't contest it. I have to wait and see. I can't start the petition until they've actually refused our claim, which might take 40 days.

[adam2]

Best of luck. I suspect that you have a good chance. Do you have a smart meter ? One of the alleged advantages of such is that they keep a log of supply failures, without reliance on the utility bothering to answer the phone.

[UndercoverElephant]

Best of luck. I suspect that you have a good chance. Do you have a smart meter ? One of the alleged advantages of such is that they keep a log of supply failures, without reliance on the utility bothering to answer the phone.

Yes, we have no problem proving when we lost power and there's no reasonable explanation as to why we would have failed to notify them for nearly 4 days.

[Mark]

This is a perfect example. It goes right to the heart of what the British consider to be "fair play", and it will suit the government to do something to get National Grid back under control and prevent this ever happening again.

You're having a laugh UE ?
This government has just flogged off the Royal Mail...
https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... sky-uk-ids

You might have had a chance under Corbyn, but no chance under Starmer...

[Potemkin Villager]

Another angle on this.

Remember a chat with I had with a women who worked in our local ESB office and often got drafted in to help answer the 'phone during any prolonged outages. She said that folk where generally reasonably understanding for the first and early part of the second day, Thereafter things rapidly went downhill with callers displaying increasing rudeness and aggression towards her which by day 3 in some cases had descended to personal threats!

Cheap and convenient energy is a very addictive drug and as a society do not generally react very well when our dealer cannot deliver for even a modest period of time.

[emordnilap]

We lost power for 44 hours. By then I was starting to get depressed. We coped through having a stove with no boiler, heating the room we spent our time in. Propane for cooking but we could cook up a pan of stuff on the stove if we wanted. Lots of head torches and battery-powered lights. A powerbank. Lots of stored drinking water (though you don't need much in practice),

A healthy attitude (with patience, warm clothes, go out for walks, read books, warm duvets) is an important asset. I'm glad I'm not unwell though.

No matter what you do, it's never enough.

[adam2]

I had numerous short term power cuts, and one of about 12 hours. UPS worked fine and I was again glad to have it.
Living room heated by multi fuel stove, rest of house not much colder than usual.
Plenty of warm clothes and blankets.
Neighbours cats visited as disgusted by lack of GCH in their own home.

[BritDownUnder]

In the end if you fail to plan you plan to fail. Lot's of people on this forum have sold places in the expensive South-East and bought rural properties in cheaper areas. In Australia for the cost equivalent to about 20,000 pounds I have a full EV charger, 8kW PV system and two Tesla batteries that will guarantee me at least 24 hours of uninterrupted power, and if the days are moderately sunny, pretty much forever. Add in a Rayburn type wood burner with hot water tank and radiator heating coil you will get all your cooking requirements for as long as you are prepared to put fuel into it.

I have no trust in power companies run by people who are probably, for want of a better word, psychopaths, but I am happy to invest in them to get a decent return.