Dear LPG,  

I read with interest what NP had to say about the power behind nearly everything that we do these days  (►►►), and it left me with a question that I could not help but ask Google.  The answer was simple enough to find.   I remembered the news that Heathrow Airport suffered an electricity power cut in March 2025, which left everyone relatively helpless and very embarrassed.  I remember that they completely closed the airport when it happened, with the result that there was an enquiry. 

They used to happen a lot more often last century and consequently we were more prepared and, as was illustrated in that article, I think that we depend upon it more than ever these days.    
I think that NP’s article was written for retired people who don’t really have to do things on time as readily as working people do, but I got thinking about all the electric car owners who would not be able to leave their car charging outside the front gate while they got on with their lives, and I hear that it takes at least half an hour to charge an electric car.   Once one was found that did have power, can you imagine the queues that would form at the street charging points?  

But perhaps more important, is being prepared just in case it happens to you unexpectedly.  I am thinking about housebound people and people who live alone.  I have a couple of friends that qualify and a quick question to each of them about how ready they would be left me thinking that I need to write this message.    NP mentioned the automatic phone call that she received on her mobile phone and it occurred that anyone living alone with only a landline would be completely cut off and uncontactable.    

I am hoping that power cuts continue to be relatively few and far between, especially the unscheduled ones, but all this talk of them got me thinking about how ready I would be to cope with one if it were to happen today.   

I took a look on the internet and found some advice worth a read.  A lot of it made perfect sense but when last did you check if your torch has batteries or where the matches and candles are in your house.  If everything clicked off in the middle of a dark night, would you know where to find the batteries and torch etc.?  

I hope that this post is a memory jogger that gets readers just checking on their emergency kit or at least reminding themselves where the all-important things they would need are. 

One other thing to check might be if you need to be included on the Priority Services Register.  Every utility service provider has one and, while they often ask you if you need to be included, it is usually at the end of a lengthy phone call where you have been waiting for ages, and it is  so easy to say, ‘no’ so that the call can come to an end.  The other thing is that our circumstances change and with so many people to update if something like a stroke or blindness leaves you less independent, your utility supplier company can so easily get forgotten.   

Lastly, power cut or not, it is also worth noting that personal alarms might need to be updated after the landline phone switchover to broadband, and can I remind people that if you have a mobile phone which you turn off most of the time, this might be a reason to keep it on and charged a bit more often. 

I just thought a reminder would be a good idea…  

JE, Sydenham. 

 

 

JE offers a little information that, if read now, might help prepare you just in case there is an unscheduled power cut that affects you…

 

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… and a little more about the PSR…

 

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