The Scottish Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Paul Wheelhouse, has praised Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution (SSEPD) engineers for their hard work and dedication during the recent Christmas storms.
Paul Wheelhouse, MSP for Scotland South, told colleagues in the Scottish Parliament that engineers, “deserve our thanks for their efforts in very challenging conditions.”
Mr Wheelhouse was making a statement on the recent severe winter weather, when he highlighted work undertaken by SSEPD and Scottish Power to reconnect homes.
Earlier this week the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth, John Swinney MSP took the time to visit SSEPD’s Network Management Centre at Perth, where efforts to coordinate engineers and restore power were directed.
During his visit, Mr Swinney, who is also the MSP for Perthshire North, met control room and operational staff. He discussed the recent weather events, how SSEPD prepares for extreme weather and how it responds to faults on its network.
Mr Swinney said: "I appreciated the opportunity to visit the Network and Hydro Control Centres and to see at first hand the immensely difficult job that is undertaken here.
“It is clear that a huge amount of professional expertise is deployed to ensure a swift and effective response is deployed in instances of bad weather. I greatly value the commitment of SSE staff in working to restore and maintain supplies in these difficult conditions."
In his statement to the Scottish Parliament, Paul Wheelhouse MSP observed that 26,000 energy customers were affected by power cuts throughout Scotland because of the high winds that battered the country on the approach to Christmas Day.
He said: “However, the majority of those customers in locations right across Scotland were reconnected within a few hours and very few were without power for more than 24 hours...it was a remarkable effort given that it was achieved despite very testing conditions.”
Paul Wheelhouse MSP said SSEPD was, “well prepared for the situation that arose.” MSPs applauded when he praised engineers who sacrificed their own festivities to help customers.
In preparation SSEPD had readied 364 operational staff, 26 contractors and 80 tree cutters to ensure any faults to the network were dealt with in as short a time as possible.
Staff in the field were supported by over 100 office based staff, located in Perth and Portsmouth, who received calls from customers and assisted in the coordination of repairs. Many of the staff involved gave up their own time, to ensure affected customers’ plans for Christmas were not completely ruined.
Paul Wheelhouse MSP added: “Both companies deserve our praise and recognition for their tremendous efforts in Scotland over the festive period. My colleague Fergus Ewing has written to the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets to show the Scottish Government’s support for the efforts of Scottish Power and SSE.”
Stuart Hogarth, Director of SSEPD, commented on the response to the storm: “We have robust plans in place to deal with power loss caused by severe weather and we very quickly implemented those plans. Restoring power to our customers as quickly as possible is a priority and I’d like to thank those customers who were without power at such an important time for their patience.
“Some of the conditions that our field staff faced were very challenging, including blocked roads and fallen trees and I was particularly pleased that all of our repairs and operations were carried out in a safe manner with no report of injury to personnel.
“Our efforts in restoring customers' power were strongly supported by the Scottish Government’s multi-agency response, I would like to take the opportunity to thank those involved for their assistance and support following the aftermath of the storm.”