Hartlepool businesses urged to prepare for power cuts ahead of Storm Éowyn

Experts from Preston-headquartered emergency power specialist, Central Power Services, are warning that businesses in Hartlepool must act now to ensure they can continue to run in the event of likely outages.

The Met Office has issued amber warnings with extreme winds expected to cause disruption in the area.

During winter, the change in weather and higher demand on the National Grid increases the risk of disruptions to energy supplies. Being left without power causes significant risks for businesses, including safety concerns, financial losses, disruption to operations, and reputational damage.

Stuart Brakewell, managing director of Central Power Services, said: “As the weather becomes more unpredictable, and storms more severe, we are seeing increasing numbers of organisations caught out by power disruption. Many are businesses that already have back-up generators in place but haven’t tested them – so they have an unpleasant surprise when the power cuts out.

“A single hour of downtime can cost thousands in decreased productivity and loss of revenue as well as increased risk to customers and employees. It’s impossible to accurately predict the impact of storms, but we can say with certainty that they will continue to cause power cuts over the coming months. It’s not too late, but businesses need to act now to protect themselves from outages before Storm Éowyn hits.”

CPS has shared its top tips for preparing for winter power cuts:

1. Conduct a health and safety risk assessment: Evaluate the potential impact of a power outage on your business. Identifying areas that need continuous power, such as safety equipment or IT and data infrastructure, will help you to plan effectively.

2. Get a back-up system in place: If the assessment identifies a need to ensure continuous power and you don’t already have a back-up system in place, now’s the time to act. It’s not too late to get a system in place and specialists can support with either permanent generator installations or shorter-term equipment hire for the winter period.

3. Regularly run back-up power sources: If you already have a generator, it should be run regularly to make sure they are operating correctly. Ideally, this should happen monthly at a minimum, so that issues can be identified quickly.

4. Check your generator levels: Routine checks should be carried out to ensure that generators have the right levels of coolant, fuel, oil, and battery charge, and that there are no leaks or other maintenance issues.

5. Make staff aware: Ensure that all relevant staff members are aware of their responsibilities for maintaining backup systems, as well as what to do during a power cut, and who to contact if there are any issues.

6. Start as soon as possible: Don’t wait until winter has fully arrived – the best time to check a generator is in sunny, clear weather conditions. Taking proactive steps now to get backup systems in place, or test existing ones, can avoid disruptions to business during winter outages.