Sunday, 5 December 2021

STORM ARWEN UPDATE: SUNDAY 5TH DECEMBER

I understand how difficult it has been for residents across Northumberland - many are now over a week without power - and I am doing everything I can to get power restored.
There has been good progress in the West Allen Valley, but there are still plenty of smaller communities and isolated homesteads that still need to be sorted. I want to say a huge thanks to the engineers on the ground working through the night to get residents reconnected.
I am hopeful the village of Stonehaugh will be reconnected soon, and other communities areas are being sorted today.
We continue to source and sort the supply of generators, especially for the most vulnerable and for those who it is estimated it will still take several days for them to be reconnected. We are working with Gregor and his team from Forest and Garden in Hexham. There are hundreds of engineers from across the UK helping to restore the network.
If you are in need of a generator, please get in touch with me and my office on 0207 219 7227, or on guy.opperman@parliament.uk.
COMPENSATION
Following meetings with Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, Ofgem has today removed the compensation limit to allow customers affected by Storm Arwen to claim up to £140 per day they are without power. The previous maximum cap of £700 will no longer apply.
WELFARE SUPPORT
Northern Powergrid have issued the following statement:
π‘π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘› π‘ƒπ‘œπ‘€π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘”π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘‘ 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 π‘π‘Ÿπ‘œπ‘£π‘–π‘‘π‘’ π‘“π‘–π‘›π‘Žπ‘›π‘π‘–π‘Žπ‘™ π‘Žπ‘ π‘ π‘–π‘ π‘‘π‘Žπ‘›π‘π‘’ π‘‘π‘œ π‘Žπ‘›π‘¦ π‘‘π‘œπ‘šπ‘’π‘ π‘‘π‘–π‘ π‘π‘’π‘ π‘‘π‘œπ‘šπ‘’π‘Ÿ π‘€β„Žπ‘œ π‘€π‘Žπ‘  𝑠𝑑𝑖𝑙𝑙 π‘œπ‘“π‘“ 𝑠𝑒𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑦 π‘œπ‘› 29 π‘π‘œπ‘£π‘’π‘šπ‘π‘’π‘Ÿ 2021 π‘œπ‘Ÿ π‘™π‘Žπ‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿ π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘€β„Žπ‘œ 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑖𝑑𝑠 β„Žπ‘’π‘™π‘. π‘‡β„Žπ‘–π‘  𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑑𝑒 π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘Žπ‘ π‘œπ‘›π‘Žπ‘π‘™π‘’ π‘π‘œπ‘ π‘‘π‘  π‘œπ‘“ π‘Žπ‘™π‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘›π‘Žπ‘‘π‘–π‘£π‘’ π‘Žπ‘π‘π‘œπ‘šπ‘šπ‘œπ‘‘π‘Žπ‘‘π‘–π‘œπ‘› π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘“π‘œπ‘œπ‘‘ (𝑒𝑝 π‘‘π‘œ £15 π‘π‘’π‘Ÿ π‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘ π‘œπ‘› π‘π‘’π‘Ÿ π‘šπ‘’π‘Žπ‘™). 𝐼𝑑 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 π‘Žπ‘™π‘ π‘œ π‘π‘œπ‘›π‘‘π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘π‘’π‘‘π‘’ π‘‘π‘œ π‘œπ‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿ π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘Žπ‘ π‘œπ‘›π‘Žπ‘π‘™π‘¦ π‘–π‘›π‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘Ÿπ‘’π‘‘ π‘π‘œπ‘ π‘‘π‘ ; π‘“π‘œπ‘Ÿ 𝑒π‘₯π‘Žπ‘šπ‘π‘™π‘’ π‘€β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘’ π‘Ž π‘π‘’π‘ π‘‘π‘œπ‘šπ‘’π‘Ÿ π‘Žπ‘Ÿπ‘Ÿπ‘Žπ‘›π‘”π‘’π‘  π‘“π‘œπ‘Ÿ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘–π‘Ÿ π‘œπ‘€π‘› π‘π‘Žπ‘π‘˜-𝑒𝑝 π‘”π‘’π‘›π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘Žπ‘‘π‘œπ‘Ÿ. π‘π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘› π‘ƒπ‘œπ‘€π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘”π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘‘ 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 π‘π‘œπ‘›π‘ π‘–π‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿ π‘’π‘Žπ‘β„Ž π‘π‘’π‘ π‘‘π‘œπ‘šπ‘’π‘Ÿ’𝑠 π‘π‘–π‘Ÿπ‘π‘’π‘šπ‘ π‘‘π‘Žπ‘›π‘π‘’π‘  π‘œπ‘› π‘Ž π‘π‘Žπ‘ π‘’-𝑏𝑦-π‘π‘Žπ‘ π‘’ π‘π‘Žπ‘ π‘–π‘ . 𝐴𝑙𝑙 π‘œπ‘“ 𝑖𝑑𝑠 π‘£π‘’π‘™π‘›π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘Žπ‘π‘™π‘’ π‘π‘’π‘ π‘‘π‘œπ‘šπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘  𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒. πΆπ‘’π‘ π‘‘π‘œπ‘šπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘  π‘€β„Žπ‘œ π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘žπ‘’π‘–π‘Ÿπ‘’ π‘Žπ‘ π‘ π‘–π‘ π‘‘π‘Žπ‘›π‘π‘’ π‘ β„Žπ‘œπ‘’π‘™π‘‘ π‘’π‘šπ‘Žπ‘–π‘™ π‘†π‘‘π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘šπ΄π‘Ÿπ‘€π‘’π‘›@π‘›π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘›π‘π‘œπ‘€π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘”π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘‘.π‘π‘œπ‘š π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘› π‘ƒπ‘œπ‘€π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘”π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘‘ 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛 π‘π‘œπ‘›π‘‘π‘Žπ‘π‘‘ π‘Žπ‘  π‘žπ‘’π‘–π‘π‘˜π‘™π‘¦ π‘Žπ‘  𝑖𝑑 π‘π‘Žπ‘› π‘‘π‘œ π‘Žπ‘”π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘’ β„Žπ‘œπ‘€ 𝑖𝑑 π‘π‘Žπ‘› β„Žπ‘’π‘™π‘.

We have been working through cases over the weekend.
If you or someone you know is vulnerable or has an urgent issue, please contact me on 01434 239 205, or on guy.opperman@parliament.uk.
My team and I are here to help, and will not stop until everyone is reconnected.
 

Friday, 3 December 2021

STORM ARWEN: EVENING UPDATE - 18:30

Northern PowerGrid have confirmed with me they have 'allocated' engineers to the following postcodes, meaning that power will be expected to be restored between Friday 3rd December and Sunday 5th December. 

Allocated postcodes in the Hexham Constituency: 

DH8 9LQ

DH8 9SU

DH8 9TF

NE13 6BU

NE15 0EZ

NE15 0HZ

NE18 0AD

NE18 0BD

NE18 0NH

NE19 2SN

NE20 0BT

NE20 9HJ

NE45 5BA

NE46 4EH

NE47 0HX

NE47 6BQ

NE47 9AB

NE48 1RU

NE61 6DG

NE61 6HJ

POWER OUTAGE UPDATE - FRIDAY

I want to say a massive thanks to everyone who is trying to reconnect people across Northumberland. It's been another busy day trying to get generators to those who are still disconnected. I've visited many of our communities without power, alongside meetings with Northern PowerGrid, the National Farmers Union, Northumberland County Council. 

 

I have two key priorities:

 

-             Making sure Northern PowerGrid continue to reconnect the dozens of substations and poles to outlying areas. The latest information I have received from them is that they have around 700 jobs to complete. 




-             Sourcing of interim generators to those who are having to continue to wait. I am aware that Northern Powegrid estimate it will be several days for some people to get reconnected, and therefore generators are essential. We are working with Gregor and his team from Forest and Garden in Hexham. There are hundreds of engineers from across the UK helping to restore the network.

 

There is more to do but this is a massive effort by all emergency and many other services, including police, fire brigade and the NFU helping in multiple ways. The Local Resilience Forum have declared a major incident in Northumberland and as a result more support on the way.

 

I have been out again this afternoon sourcing and sorting generators, visiting communities and doing home visits this afternoon and evening. We have not had a storm like Storm Arwen in a generation, but we will get through this.

 

Compensation

 

Following meetings with Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, Ofgem has today removed the compensation limit to allow customers affected by Storm Arwen to claim up to £140 per day they are without power. The previous maximum cap of £700 will no longer apply. 




Welfare support


Northern Powergrid have issued the following statement: 


π‘π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘› π‘ƒπ‘œπ‘€π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘”π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘‘ 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 π‘π‘Ÿπ‘œπ‘£π‘–π‘‘π‘’ π‘“π‘–π‘›π‘Žπ‘›π‘π‘–π‘Žπ‘™ π‘Žπ‘ π‘ π‘–π‘ π‘‘π‘Žπ‘›π‘π‘’ π‘‘π‘œ π‘Žπ‘›π‘¦ π‘‘π‘œπ‘šπ‘’π‘ π‘‘π‘–π‘ π‘π‘’π‘ π‘‘π‘œπ‘šπ‘’π‘Ÿ π‘€β„Žπ‘œ π‘€π‘Žπ‘  𝑠𝑑𝑖𝑙𝑙 π‘œπ‘“π‘“ 𝑠𝑒𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑦 π‘œπ‘› 29 π‘π‘œπ‘£π‘’π‘šπ‘π‘’π‘Ÿ 2021 π‘œπ‘Ÿ π‘™π‘Žπ‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿ π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘€β„Žπ‘œ 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑖𝑑𝑠 β„Žπ‘’π‘™π‘. π‘‡β„Žπ‘–π‘  𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑑𝑒 π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘Žπ‘ π‘œπ‘›π‘Žπ‘π‘™π‘’ π‘π‘œπ‘ π‘‘π‘  π‘œπ‘“ π‘Žπ‘™π‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘›π‘Žπ‘‘π‘–π‘£π‘’ π‘Žπ‘π‘π‘œπ‘šπ‘šπ‘œπ‘‘π‘Žπ‘‘π‘–π‘œπ‘› π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘“π‘œπ‘œπ‘‘ (𝑒𝑝 π‘‘π‘œ £15 π‘π‘’π‘Ÿ π‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘ π‘œπ‘› π‘π‘’π‘Ÿ π‘šπ‘’π‘Žπ‘™). 𝐼𝑑 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 π‘Žπ‘™π‘ π‘œ π‘π‘œπ‘›π‘‘π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘π‘’π‘‘π‘’ π‘‘π‘œ π‘œπ‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿ π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘Žπ‘ π‘œπ‘›π‘Žπ‘π‘™π‘¦ π‘–π‘›π‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘Ÿπ‘’π‘‘ π‘π‘œπ‘ π‘‘π‘ ; π‘“π‘œπ‘Ÿ 𝑒π‘₯π‘Žπ‘šπ‘π‘™π‘’ π‘€β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘’ π‘Ž π‘π‘’π‘ π‘‘π‘œπ‘šπ‘’π‘Ÿ π‘Žπ‘Ÿπ‘Ÿπ‘Žπ‘›π‘”π‘’π‘  π‘“π‘œπ‘Ÿ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘–π‘Ÿ π‘œπ‘€π‘› π‘π‘Žπ‘π‘˜-𝑒𝑝 π‘”π‘’π‘›π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘Žπ‘‘π‘œπ‘Ÿ. π‘π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘› π‘ƒπ‘œπ‘€π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘”π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘‘ 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 π‘π‘œπ‘›π‘ π‘–π‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿ π‘’π‘Žπ‘β„Ž π‘π‘’π‘ π‘‘π‘œπ‘šπ‘’π‘Ÿ’𝑠 π‘π‘–π‘Ÿπ‘π‘’π‘šπ‘ π‘‘π‘Žπ‘›π‘π‘’π‘  π‘œπ‘› π‘Ž π‘π‘Žπ‘ π‘’-𝑏𝑦-π‘π‘Žπ‘ π‘’ π‘π‘Žπ‘ π‘–π‘ . 𝐴𝑙𝑙 π‘œπ‘“ 𝑖𝑑𝑠 π‘£π‘’π‘™π‘›π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘Žπ‘π‘™π‘’ π‘π‘’π‘ π‘‘π‘œπ‘šπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘  𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒. πΆπ‘’π‘ π‘‘π‘œπ‘šπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘  π‘€β„Žπ‘œ π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘žπ‘’π‘–π‘Ÿπ‘’ π‘Žπ‘ π‘ π‘–π‘ π‘‘π‘Žπ‘›π‘π‘’ π‘ β„Žπ‘œπ‘’π‘™π‘‘ π‘’π‘šπ‘Žπ‘–π‘™ π‘†π‘‘π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘šπ΄π‘Ÿπ‘€π‘’π‘›@π‘›π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘›π‘π‘œπ‘€π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘”π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘‘.π‘π‘œπ‘š π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘› π‘ƒπ‘œπ‘€π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘”π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘‘ 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛 π‘π‘œπ‘›π‘‘π‘Žπ‘π‘‘ π‘Žπ‘  π‘žπ‘’π‘–π‘π‘˜π‘™π‘¦ π‘Žπ‘  𝑖𝑑 π‘π‘Žπ‘› π‘‘π‘œ π‘Žπ‘”π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘’ β„Žπ‘œπ‘€ 𝑖𝑑 π‘π‘Žπ‘› β„Žπ‘’π‘™π‘.


If you or someone you know is vulnerable or has an urgent issue, please contact me on 01434 239 205, or on guy.opperman@parliament.uk. My team and I are here to help, and will not stop until everyone is reconnected. 


If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.