Ofgem publishes final report on DNOs' response to Storm Arwen

Ofgem published its final report on the review into the networks' response to Storm Arwen on 9 June 2022¹. The review examined what the distribution network operators (DNOs) did before, during and after the storm, and investigated compliance with relevant licence conditions². An interim report had been published in February 2022¹.

Storm Arwen brought severe winds to the UK between 26 and 27 November 2021, with the Met Office issuing a red warning for wind². The highest gust speed measured was 98mph in Northumberland, and wind speeds were widely reported to reach over 69mph². According to the Met Office, it was one of the most powerful and damaging winter storms of the last decade². The damage resulted in over 9,700 faults, primarily caused by strong winds and fallen or broken trees². Ofgem found that the majority of network faults were caused by strong winds or trees and branches falling onto power lines¹.

Storm Arwen brought considerable damage to most DNO networks across the country; only UKPN and SSEN (SSES) were not significantly affected². Ofgem notes that Storm Eunice affected more customers (1.7 million compared with 1 million for Storm Arwen), but power was restored to those customers more quickly².

The report sets out findings across network resilience, planning and preparation, incident handling, communication and support, and support after the incident¹. Ofgem found that emergency plans were not sufficient to deal with the scale of the storm and some DNOs did not adapt their resources or strategies quickly enough¹. Limited monitoring on the lower voltage networks hindered DNOs from understanding the full scale and complexity of faults, which affected the resources they initially deployed to undertake repairs, restore power and support customers¹. There were issues with the availability of phone lines, websites and how efficiently customer enquiries were dealt with¹. Ofgem believes that some DNOs were too slow in paying out compensation¹.

The recommendations include four actions to improve network resilience and the speed of customer reconnections, three to improve the identification of faults and the deployment of generators, and four to improve the handling of large call volumes, website traffic, reporting metrics of communications channels and customer service for call-backs¹. Ofgem has also recommended that DNOs submit winter preparedness plans to Ofgem to provide assurance that all necessary steps have been taken¹. A further recommendation covers how DNOs estimate restoration times, work with local resilience partners and make clear to customers what support, such as hot meals and accommodation, is available¹. Four recommendations address how DNOs obtain customer data and develop more robust payment mechanisms to deliver compensation at scale¹.

On payments, NPg, SSEN and ENWL have individually agreed to pay, via alternative action, an additional £10.28 million to consumer resilience funds, over and above the £29.64 million they have already paid through mandatory and voluntary compensation payments². ENWL and SSEN have also agreed to spend £3.7m and £1.2m respectively on network resilience through shareholder funded activity². The report gives individual amounts: a total package of £7.69m for consumers from NPg, in addition to the £12.39m it already paid out, and a package of £2.30m from SSEN².

Ofgem also published a separate report, Customer Experiences of Storm Arwen, on the same date, setting out qualitative research into the experiences of customers affected by an extended power outage and their experiences of communication and support from DNOs³. Its findings informed the wider review³. The final report notes that some households that require electricity to power water pumps had no water supply for drinking, bathing or washing dishes².

Why it matters for households

The review concerns the companies that run the local electricity networks serving households across Great Britain. Its findings describe what happened to customers during Storm Arwen: extended outages, difficulty reaching network operators by phone or website, uncertainty about when power would return, and delays or inaccuracies in compensation. The report records that during planned engagement activities with affected customers in February 2022, Ofgem heard directly from several customers who had still not received accurate compensation payments². It also records that some households needing electricity to power water pumps had no water supply for drinking, bathing or washing dishes². The recommendations are addressed to DNOs and cover preparedness, fault identification, communications, restoration estimates, information about support such as hot meals and accommodation, and compensation delivery¹. The report states that all DNOs have areas for improvement and that coordination and collaboration among them will be required to implement the recommendations effectively¹.

What happens next

Ofgem states that it is calling on all DNOs to take swift action on the specific recommendations addressed to them and make the necessary improvements before the coming winter, reporting back to Ofgem on these in October². The report says the majority of actions are relevant to all DNOs and that the Energy Emergencies Executive Committee (E3C), the partnership between government and industry commissioned by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy in December 2021, will be responsible for implementing them². Ofgem says it will consider these actions as it develops the framework of the next price control for electricity distribution companies (RIIO-ED2), which covers 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2028². It adds that it will continue to use all the tools in its regulatory toolkit to hold DNOs to account¹. The report does not set out a timetable for individual DNO responses beyond the October reporting date².

For background on the storm and the changes that followed, see Storm Arwen 2021: What Happened and What Changed. For how storms affect the electricity network and how households can prepare, see Storms and the Electricity Network, and the power cuts and storms and snow guides.