Big Energy Week launch 2016

Savings and support on the menu at Energy Café

Families across Hastings are urged to visit the town’s Energy Café TODAY to access practical free services and money saving advice. UK Power Networks has joined forces with the organisers, Energise Sussex Coast and Citizens Advice 1066, to help bring energy saving tips and advice to those struggling with their fuel bills. They will also be helping people in vulnerable situations to join the Priority Services Register for free extra help in the rare event of a power cut.

The Energy Café at Christ Church, Old London Road, Ore, is open from 11am to 3pm today (Tuesday, 1 November, plus other dates – see poster below), offering practical help and advice. UK Power Networks has organised independent energy champions to help with energy efficiency advice and ways to save money. It is all part of Big Energy Saving Week (31 October to 6 November), a national campaign backed by government and charities to help people cut their fuel bills and get the support they are entitled to.

UK Power Networks will be giving out free thermometers, showing the best room temperature to keep warm and save money on fuel bills. There will also be handy coins, which fit supermarket trolleys, featuring the new 105 power cut helpline number. 105 allows anyone, anywhere, to contact their local electricity network operator to report, or get information about, a power cut.

To ease the worry of the occasional power cut for those in vulnerable situations, UK Power Networks will spend time at the Energy Café inviting people to sign up for the free Priority Services Register. This confidential register helps people who rely on electricity for medical needs or those who need extra assistance for other reasons, such as a disability, having an elderly relative or young children at home during a power cut.

There are currently 55,600 people on UK Power Networks’ Priority Services Register in East Sussex, but many more people could be helped, if they knew about the service.

Those on the register can access extra help services including:

• A 24-hour priority phone number
• A dedicated team who will contact you to keep you updated during a power cut
• Tailored support if needed, such as home visits, hot meals, advice and keeping your friends and family updated
• In certain scenarios a free hotel stay overnight, including transport to the hotel.

Customers can apply to join the register at UK Power Networks by calling 0800 169 9970 or emailing psr@ukpowernetworks.co.uk.

UK Power Networks distributes more than a quarter of the UK’s electricity through its networks of substations, underground cables and overhead lines across London, the South East and the East of England, regardless of who customers pay their energy bills to. A range of other companies deliver power to the rest of the country.

The industry regulator Ofgem sets an allowed revenue to distribution companies so that they can maintain safe and reliable electricity supplies. UK Power Networks invests more than £500 million in its electricity networks every year, offers extra help to vulnerable customers at times of need, and is undertaking trials to ensure that electricity networks support the transition to a low carbon future. It also moves cables and connects new electricity supplies.

If customers are unfortunate enough to be affected by a power cut or have another issue with the electricity supply to their property, they should contact UK Power Networks by phone, email, twitter, Facebook, letter or through www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk

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