Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady has called upon the ESB to address the ongoing issue of electricity supply outages in the Grange Con, Stratford, Donard and Glen areas. Which are affecting approx. 1,500 people.
Brady said:
“There have been 24 unplanned outages in these areas in the last three years. Which runs at approx. once every one and a half months. This is an unacceptable situation for customers in these areas.
In three years the ESB has been unable to resolve this situation. Despite a commitment from an ESB official to local people two years ago to carry out remedial work that would remedy the situation.
In reality in the intervening period the situation has been deteriorating for local people, with three outages so far this month alone.
Locals have been informed that the cause of the problem lies in the failure to keep tree branches and leaves from knocking against power lines in windy weather causing power outages– which is arguably an awful lot of the time in Ireland.
A regular practice of policing the power lines and removing tree branches which are impacting on the line would appear to be a simple solution to the problem, along with ensuring that all the power supply poles are properly secured in the ground and are not subject to swaying in the wind.
This is not just an inconvenience for people, many residents rely on electricity to heat their homes, to cook, and to pump water – they are often left without running water and are unable to flush toilets as a result of outages. There are a significant number of people who also work from home several days a week who are being left unable to conduct their business.
This situation is unacceptable, it has gone on for far too long. The ESB need to formally bring forward a plan to provide a solution to the residents in these areas. With energy supplier making record profits, and bills going through the roof, there needs to be accountability here. And anything less than a full resolution to the situation cannot be accepted.