Digging cuts power to 1,000 customers

NEARLY 1,000 homes and businesses in the Dunmurry area lost electricity supplies from shortly before 1pm last Wednesday (January 20) following contractor damage to the underground electricity network in the area.
By The Newsroom
Published 25th Jan 2010, 15:40 BST
Updated 27th Jan 2010, 10:27 BST

Contractors damaged an 11,000 volt cable and left 934 customers without electricity from 12.47pm. Northern Ireland Electricity emergency teams responded immediately to assess the damage and begin repairs. They were able to put in place a resupply plan for all affected customers, restoring 715 by 1.56pm and the remaining 219 had electricity supplies restored by 3.20pm. Final cable repairs were completed by 11pm.

Valerie Curran, Customer Relations Manager for Northern Ireland Electricity, urged contractors working in the vicinity of underground cables to follow safety precautions when working near electricity equipment.

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“Contractors should exercise extreme caution when working close to underground cables, using safe working practices such as digging trial holes and digging by hand to avoid any damage to or alteration of the location of the cable,” she said. “Any incident of damage to the electricity network can cause inconvenience to customers in surrounding areas and place contractors at risk from injury.

“With good working practices the number of these incidences could be dramatically reduced. The damage affected many homes, causing inconvenience to customers in the area.”

NIE currently offers contractors a range of advice and assistance to help them avoid underground cables including advice leaflets, videos, maps and diagrams of the underground electricity network.