Power Supply Interruptions in the Village
The Parish Council has contacted National Grid, expressing concerns over the recent spate of outages that have affected the village.
National Grid have expressed their sincere apologies to all of their customers and have provided the following information:
- a) Current issues affecting the robustness of supply –
Over the past few weeks, we have experienced several unrelated faults on the high-voltage (HV) network serving Kingston Seymour.
- 29/11/2025 – Incident 11017-u: A faulty transformer at Wharf Farm caused HV fuses to operate as network protection detected the developing failure. Because the transformer was deteriorating gradually, it initially presented as a transient and difficult-to-identify fault until it fully failed.
- 02/11/2025 – Incident 76084-l: A momentary service interruption likely caused by an external interference on the HV line (e.g. a branch making contact with the line or a bird strike).
- 05/12/2025 – Incident 76353-l: A confirmed swan strike that resulted in HV conductors coming down. This fault has been fully repaired and the network in this section has been put back to normal.
These incidents were coincidental rather than indicative of a single underlying network issue, but we recognise they have still resulted in a period of reduced reliability for the village.
- b) Immediate actions to prevent further outages.
For Incident 11017-u (Wharf Farm), we are currently replacing the failed transformer and associated pole at Wharf Farm. This work is being carried out today (Monday 8th) during the planned shutdown between 10:00 and 18:00 under incident number 19408-t. Once completed, this will remove the principal cause of the recent short interruptions on that section of network.
We are also continuing with routine inspections of the surrounding HV circuits to ensure there are no remaining defects or hazards that could lead to further short-term interruptions.
- c) Longer-term measures to ensure supply resilience.
Looking ahead, we will continue to:
- Carry out regular overhead line patrols, vegetation management, and condition-based assessments to minimise the likelihood of future faults from environmental causes.
- Monitor the performance of the HV network in the area following the replacement of the transformer to ensure that no further underlying issues are present.
- Incorporate the Kingston Seymour network into our ongoing asset-replacement and resilience-improvement programmes, ensuring that equipment is upgraded in line with its condition and operational needs.
We remain committed to providing a reliable electricity supply to Kingston Seymour and will continue to take the necessary steps to mitigate future interruptions.
Your parish councillors will continue to monitor the situation and will be in contact with National Grid again as is necessary
Steve Dixon, Parish Clerk. 8th December 2025