Barking and Dagenham Community Risk Register Failure of electricity network

Loss of utilities can happen at any time and with little warning. Loss of a single service can have direct and indirect wider impacts on other utilities that support normal day to day living. For example, electricity is required at water pumping stations, fuel filling stations and to allow cash machines to function.

A blackout can be caused by a range of things, such as severe weather including strong winds or lightning. A national outage would be very severe, causing significant disruption to critical sectors and overall society. The recovery process from such an event is called ‘Black Start’. However a full Black Start recovery could take several days with the potential for disruption to last longer than this if the damage to the network is significant.

What you can do

  • have a wind up torch to hand
  • keep electrical devices fully charged
  • consider how you can be prepared, have a plan
  • know where to turn off your utilities if required
  • if you are vulnerable, sign up to the Priorities Risk Register
  • if you experience a power cut, call 105
Photo of two workers in hard hats and high vis looking at a clipboard in a warehouse