Power cuts coincidental according to energy company, EDF Energy

According to the media manager for the region, Tracey Sparling a recent run of cuts has all been coincidental.

Residents in East Barnet were most recently affected on Saturday when they lost electricity for nearly nine hours.

On December 30 more than 2,700 homes and businesses around West Finchley tube station were cut off, some for 12 hours.

The day before in Mill Hill 2,100 homes were left without electricity.

And before Christmas residents who had been affected by the gas cut crisis were left freezing in their homes because of a lack of both gas and electricity.

Ms Sparling said that the company was committed to providing a reliable supply and carried out work to upgrade equipment when it finds the distribution network is not working.

“This year we are investing over £400 million in the networks we operate on projects to maintain, improve and extend the network to cater for growth in demand for service,” she said.

But she said the company was not aware of any underlying problems with the network in Barnet borough.

Instead the recent power cuts have all been unrelated.

Power problems in East Barnet in late December were caused by the use of too many electric heaters which were distributed following damage to National Grid’s gas main.

These overloaded the system and damaged some of EDF Energy's equipment.

The company is now in the final stages of repairing the network in East Barnet, Ms Sparling said.

The other power cuts, in Mill Hill, Finchley, and East Barnet were caused by unrelated underground cable faults.

She added: “Underground cables are normally reliable if they’re not disturbed but they can occasionally develop a fault due to vibration and subsidence, and other companies digging nearby.

“It can be months before the problem results in power supplies being interrupted.”

What do you think of the power cuts across the borough? Email Sarah Cosgrove on scosgrove@london.newsquest.co.uk or leave a comment in the box below.