Energy companies will be made to pay more to customers in compensation if their power supply is affected by the likes of storms and other severe weather.
Under regulator Ofgem’s new rules, the cap on compensation will be lifted from £700 to £2,000 after thousands were left without power for several days in November 2021 due to Storm Arwen.
“It’s unacceptable that thousands of households were left without power in freezing conditions for a prolonged period […] often with poor information.
“Many also found it hard to get the compensation they were entitled to afterwards,” Ofgem infrastructure director Akshay Kaul said.
Customers will receive £80 initially if their power supply is not restored after 24 to 48 hours – based on the severity of the storm – after which £40 should be paid every six hours until issues are fixed, Ofgem said on Friday.
This is up from an initial £70 previously, with payments then due from companies every 12 hours rather than the six originally.
“Lessons have been learnt by the industry following our review into Storm Arwen, but the frequency of extreme weather events is only set to increase, so we need to make sure network services are resilient,” Kaul added.
The new rules apply to distribution network operators, such as National Grid PLC (LSE:NG.), with Ofgem threatening multi-million pound fines if they are breached.