Storm Éowyn: No compensation for power cuts in Northern Ireland

People left without power for days in the wake of Storm Éowyn earlier this year have “no existing routes” to compensation, Northern Ireland’s Department for the Economy has said.

The first and deputy first ministers had called on Northern Ireland’s electricity distribution company to “step up” and provide support.

Storm Éowyn brought winds of more than 90mph to Northern Ireland on 24 January, damaging electricity and telecoms infrastructure.

In a statement, Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) said it “worked with the Department for the Economy and the Utility Regulator to assess the viability of the creation of a severe weather compensation scheme”.

The Department for the Economy (DfE) said that had NIE Networks not applied the severe weather exemption, customers would pay 50% of the cost of compensation through their electricity bills next year and NIE shareholders would have to agree to “bear the rest”.

It added that “no other electricity company shareholders in Britain or Ireland” had been asked to bear the cost of compensation for Storm Éowyn.

Some 285,000 households and businesses in Northern Ireland lost power during the storm and damage was caused to various buildings.

In the days after the storm, First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly called on NIE to provide financial support.

O’Neill said they “made the case very strongly to NIE that we believe there should be a goodwill payment”.

Little-Pengelly added that “these companies make significant profits every year” and it was important that support was provided in people’s “time of need”.

Those words were later echoed by Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald, who told BBC’s Sunday Politics that “it is right” that those who have gone without power should receive compensation.

The executive asked DfE to establish if payments could be “recovered through customer electricity bills”.

However after setting up a working group, the department made an announcement on Monday that “there is “no existing route to make payments to customers”.

A DfE spokesperson said: “NIE Networks has applied a severe weather exemption provided for in legislation under which customers can apply for compensation if they have been off electricity supply.”

“The working group concluded that any other options involving recovery of payments from network charges would require legal or regulatory modifications which cannot be applied retrospectively for those customers impacted by Storm Éowyn.”

The department said that if NIE was to voluntarily turn down the severe weather exemption, then customers “would pay 50% of the cost of compensation through their electricity bills next year and NIE shareholders would have to agree to bear the rest”.

The spokesperson said no other electricity company shareholders in Britain or Ireland have been asked to “bear the cost of compensation” and that the storm was “an unprecedented weather event”.

They added that “all bodies involved in the response” to the storm will be considering what lessons can be learned and what “appropriate and affordable measures” can be made to reduce the impact of future storms.

In their statement, the NIE also said they “will continue to work with all parties to ensure that it delivers any and all requirements as set out in legislation and in its licence”.

“As a regulated company, the earnings and expenditure of NIE Networks are set out in a publicly consulted on regulated price control process which is carried out by the Utility Regulator,” they added.

“NIE Networks is legally required to work within this process.”

The Utility Regulator said that any other option considered by the working group, other than the severe weather exemption, would “require legal or regulatory modifications which cannot be applied retrospectively for Storm Éowyn”.

It said it would continue to engage with the department and NIE Networks in respect of any future steps.

Insurance cover and compensation can vary significantly depending on the impact and individual policy details.

Meanwhile, Broadband firm Fibrus will pay customers compensation for disruption caused by Storm Éowyn.

Domestic customers will receive £5 a day for service interruptions that lasted more than 48 hours, while business customers will receive £10 a day.

The company said that 40,000 of their customers were without service at the peak of the storm.