Councillors seek more updates on electricity outages

Public representatives are being left in the dark during unexpected electricity outages as there are no direct contact points for them in either ESB Networks or EirGrid, according to a local councillor.

Cllr Peter Flynn made his comments at a recent meeting of Mayo County Council's strategic policy committee for the environment and climate change, which was attended by a delegation consisting of representatives of both bodies.

“We all know what happened with Storm Éowyn last year and while it was a once-off, we do struggle when the ESB network goes down, because we are inevitably seen as the ones on the ground who are easy to get a hold of, yet we cannot get a clear contact point for the ESB.” 

He asked representatives of the semi-state body: “Who do we contact as local representatives, because, in fairness to Uisce Éireann, they have a dedicated councillor line and an email address, but not the ESB. Is there a way we can improve the communication process between local reps and the ESB?” 

ESB Networks' area manager in Mayo, Kevin Staunton, told the meeting that the issue around contact numbers “has come up quite a bit” but that the problem is the ESB has 38,000 stations to attend to and while everyone in a place like Castlebar with perhaps 45,000 customers might be crying out for information, the priority is not to go after isolated faults, but to stick to the process of addressing each station: “It is like opening main roads without fixing side roads first.” 

He added that in times of major storm, they may have a dedicated person who can take a call, but these would relate to really tough cases, maybe where end of life care was involved, adding that he hoped people would understand the challenges the organisation faces in these crisis moments.

Cllr Flynn acknowledged the situation but said it would be really helpful for public representatives to at least have a contact point to log a fault and get feedback as to where it was on the list, “as right now we are very much operating in a vacuum, yet our mobile phones are hopping whenever this happens".

Cllr Harry Barrett extended compliments to Mr Staunton and the team in the Castlebar area office, saying they "do their level best" to assist whenever he contacts them. 

Cathaoirleach Cllr Gerry Murray agreed, saying: “The lads on the ground do their best and work around the clock".

The positive sentiments were supported by other members of the committee.

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.