Power row for Assembly

Dec 4 2002 By Elgan Hearn, Bangor And Anglesey Mail

THE plight of several Anglesey residents who went without electricity for over three days in October will be taken to the National Assembly.

Ieuan Wyn Jones AM has made this move on behalf of constituents following Scottish Power's point blank refusal to pay compensation to the residents.

A single street with at least 10 homeowners from Newborough had no electricity for as long as 76 hours.

For residents of Ucheldre Street, the lights did not come back on until the afternoon of Wednesday, October 30, while electricity for the rest of Newborough was back on Sunday night.

Resident Dafydd Hughes, said: "I lost at least £200 of food in the freezer, and it also cost a lot to take the children on a 15-mile round journey to McDonalds for hot food.

"The people at Scottish Power have been down here to see us and say that this incident was an Act of God.

"They have been adamant that we won'treceive any compensation.

"Irealise that would be the case if it was a 16-hour power cut, but we suffered for more than three days."

Maureen Allison, who suffers fro m arthritis, had been stocking up her fridge in preparation for Christmas and had to throw £300 of food in the bin.

Due to ill-health, she and her husband Jack need a warm home and as her home only has electric storage heaters, she was forced to reopen her fireplace.

She said: "We had to buy a portable gas burner and rely on the goodwill of friends."

Mr Jones has now lodged a claim with the company which they are now refusing to pay.

He said: "It is disgraceful that the company are not prepared to compensate people for their losses.

"They were not informed as to when their supply would be restored and to be without electricity for so long is simply not acceptable.

"I have now re-submitted the claim to the company's chief executive, Mr John Menzies, and intend to raise the issue in the Assembly next week.

"The Assembly should back our claim and put pressure on the company to settle quickly."

A Scottish Power spokesman said: "This is a matter that affects the whole industry and along with our industry partners, we have complied with the regulators standards on compensation following severe weather conditions.

"Scottish Power are in a state of high readiness for the storms and we did everything in our power to respond as quickly as possible to the widespread disruption on our electricity network."