Western Power Distribution

Public urged to ‘Be Winter Ready’

The electricity and gas networks have come together again to help members of the public prepare in case they have a power cut or gas emergency this winter through its annual ‘Be Winter Ready’ campaign, which is launching on 2nd December.

We’re contacting you as it would be great if you could help share this important information through your channels to help spread the word about the campaign.

While electricity supplies are very reliable, bad winter weather can cause damage and disruption. As the nights get colder and darker, the chance of experiencing severe weather becomes more likely. Storms, floods and other extreme conditions can cause damage to the electricity network and disrupt energy supplies.

We are therefore sharing this simple advice to help people prepare. To Be Winter Ready, we’re urging the public to:

Know your free emergency numbers – in a power cut call 105 or, for a gas emergency, dial 0800 111999.

Prepare your home – keep a torch handy and get your appliances serviced by a Gas Safe registered engineer to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. Vulnerable households can also get extra support by signing up to the Priority Services Register. 

Keep your eyes open – keep an eye on the weather forecast and, if you have a power cut or a gas emergency, check on your neighbours. 

The Priority Services Register

The Priority Services Register is a free service provided by the company and is eligible for anyone who is of a pensionable age, disabled, has children under 5 years old or relies on medical equipment.

As part of the service, customers are kept informed as much as possible of power cuts affecting their home and are given special help, if needed, through the British Red Cross.

The Priority Services Register offers peace of mind for vulnerable customers and their families and we do our very best to ensure that their needs are met at all times.

We already have 1.8 million customers on our register.

To find out more information or to register, please call us on 0800 096 3080 or visit www.westernpower.co.uk/psr.

We have created a digital toolkit of materials to communicate this information, including social media posts, a poster and leaflet. The toolkit can be accessed and downloaded using the button below. Please share the posts on Facebook and Twitter, on websites and share in a newsletter or print flyers and posters.

We’d really appreciate it if you can help us reach people with this advice.

Thank you in advance of any support you can provide.