Why do we get power cuts?

A few residents contacted us with concerns that the power cuts we get must mean we're short of capacity so what's it going to be like when new homes are approved.

We contacted UK Power to find out and they say capacity is not a problem, there is plenty.

They say our outages are caused by transient bird contact with the overhead lines. They have devices on the overhead lines which would cause the power to be automatically switched off in the event of these contacts. These devices (Auto Reclosers) form part of their protection equipment and automatically cut off the power if a transient fault is detected. Wind-borne debris, trees or birds coming into contact with the lines can cause this to happen. They can also operate due to the effects of lightning storms.