UK National Grid apologises for blackout

The National Grid today defended its record and apologised to 250,000 commuters stuck in the rush-hour power-cut which hit London last night.

The company faced demands for an inquiry amid accusations of cuts and under-investment as fallout from the blackout continued, with the Tories demanding government action.

The 30-minute power cut left parts of the capital paralysed for hours, with thousands of people stranded as tube and trains ground to a halt. Road traffic lights also failed.

Thousands of travellers were left waiting on platforms – or simply walked home in scenes reminiscent of New York’s big blackout earlier this month.

National Grid stated at that time that a similar power cut in the UK was highly improbable and added: “Our record speaks for itself.”

But today London Mayor Ken Livingstone demanded an inquiry, calling last night’s power failure an “absolute outrage”.

He added: “You have to ask why it is a country which is the fourth richest in the world cannot invest enough in its power supply to maintain power.

British energy minister Stephen Timms said he would be asking for an urgent report from the National Grid, which said it was investigating the cause of the fault.

Mr Livingstone added: “It is totally unacceptable that this has happened, affecting at least 250,000 people as well as the transport system.

“Under-investment in the National Grid must not be allowed to cause this kind of chaos in a city like London.

“This event demands the fullest inquiry to ensure it does not happen again in the future.”

National Grid chief operating officer Mark Fairburn blamed the problem on two faults and insisted it was a very rare event.

“We would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused to people,” he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

“We have been undertaking a full technical investigation as to the background of the faults. That is still in progress. But we are now getting a clearer picture of the sequence of events.

“We had an equipment failure on our system in south east London and that was followed within seconds by a second fault which caused the power cut.”

Mr Fairburn said this was “an extremely rare event”, which had not occurred since the great storms of 1987.

“It happened because we had two coincident faults in quick succession,” he said, adding: “This has got nothing to do with under-investment. Investment levels are at the highest level the industry has seen.”

Tim Yeo, the Tory shadow trade and industry secretary, said: “Ensuring a continuous supply of electricity is a responsibility not just for the industry but for the Government itself.

“Just two weeks after bland assurances that a New York style blackout could not happen here, last night’s power failure is a reminder of how vulnerable Britain is.

“Until ministers can explain what happened yesterday and what steps have been taken to prevent a recurrence, concerns will remain that another incident, possibly with even more serious consequences, may take place.

“The lives of every person, family and business are affected in a devastating manner by interruptions to electricity supplies.

“I trust that Patricia Hewitt will publish at the earliest opportunity a full explanation of the actions Government will take.”

Normal service was resumed on train and tube services with only minor difficulties reported after last night’s disruption.

A Network Rail spokesman said a stretch 20 to 30 miles south of London had been “badly” hit, and the situation was “unprecedented” affecting “tens of thousands” of passengers.

Pubs lit candles as people left work to seek refuge, many staying late into the night as crammed buses and taken taxis tried to help thousands of people to get home – although the journey took several hours.