News

Hundreds of people in Luton were impacted by a series of power failures due to a substation fault in the South and West of Luton this weekend.

This weekend’s long power failures come on top of a series of shorter power failures in the same area going back to the new year period, and intermittent failures last year, which suggests that the sub-station is not fit for purpose.

I met many elderly residents and families with young children this weekend who were dealing with the cuts the best they could, and – as in the Caddington area recently – it was good to see such a strong sense of community spirit.  The cuts seemed to be sporadic with some houses on the same street cut off while others still had electricity, and neighbours with power were helping those without - boiling water, cooking food for neighbours kids, taking in elderly neighbours and so on. 

Businesses have also been affected – including many self employed – with phones, computers and internet connections not functioning.  One local B&B even had to resort to sending her guests to a local hotel over the weekend – losing money in the process. 

We all anticipate some inconvenience in periods of extreme weather, but EDF and the Council need to get their act together in communicating more clearly with local residents – and with each other - about what is going on. 

Once the immediate repair work has been carried out I will be calling on EDF to provide a full explanation as to how the cuts happened, and what they will be doing to make sure it does not happen again.