Chaos as power cut hits firms (From Gazette Series)

Chaos as power cut hits firms

BUSINESSES in and around Wotton-under-Edge and Charfield were forced to close for several hours after a major power cut last Thursday.

The problem was reported to electricity supplier Central Networks (formerly Aquila) at around 10.40am and the supply was not fully restored until 3.15pm. Renishaw plc and the Bear Street Garage were just two of the businesses that were affected by the power cut.

The garage had no power to dispense petrol, while Renishaw is believed to have lost hundreds of thousands of pounds In two hours it was affected by the blackout.

Many other businesses had to close for the duration of the power cut as they could not safely light their premises or use their tills.

Central Networks customer liaison officer Neil Taylor said: "There was a broken connection on the main overhead line bringing the supply for our primary substation at Charfield.

"When there is no obvious cause like lightning or a fallen tree, it is very difficult to tell what has caused a connection to break."

The connection that had broken was near to Underwood Farm on the edge of Charfield.

Electricity is brought to users in three phases, but while most residential customers only rely on one phase, large power-dependent companies use all three phases.

Last Thursday one of these phases was lost, causing Renishaw and many other businesses, as well as around a third of the houses in the area, to go without power.

In addition to production being disrupted at Renishaw, the company's computer servers were unable to operate, which had a knock-on effect at its offices in both Old Town and Woodchester.

Michael Sykes, the company's public relations officer, also revealed that another problem arose when the air-conditioning motors overheated because only part of the system was working.

He said: "Further chaos was caused when the motors of our air-conditioning plant at New Mills burnt out, producing smoke that set the fire alarm off and brought Wotton's fire service to investigate."