Tech Tip – Planning For Power Cuts This Winter

The national grid is making customers aware that there may be power outages this winter during the coldest months when there is peak demand, and potentially limited supplies, using a solution called rota load disconnection.

This is where they shut down parts of the electricity grid when there is too much demand and to ensure that it is fair, they will rotate through regions so it will not be a total blackout across the country.

For the first time, the national grid has said that there may be power outages at a specific time of day, namely between 4pm – 7pm on weekdays. Bear in mind this will be happening in the depths of winter and 4pm is when it starts to get dark.

Here are some ideas and a few tech tips to help you beat the power cuts this winter and continue to run your business however we appreciate that not all of these solutions will work for every business, for example it is pretty difficult to work from home if you are a retail business with a shop, or if you are a service provider such as a dentist so need to power a lot of equipment and have good lighting, however here are some ideas to consider:

Do you:

• Close the business because there is no power? - not an ideal solution, businesses have customers everywhere so just because one region is having a power outage, it doesn’t mean your clients are, however sometimes it is just not viable to stay open.
• Do you invest in some technology such as UPS devices? UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) is essentially a large battery that sits between the plug socket and your electronics. How long the battery can power your kit for depends on how big the battery is and how much power the equipment draws. How many do you invest in and make sure you cover off all the important elements of your infrastructure to ensure everything keeps working
• Do you invest in a generator to power key bits of infrastructure? This is a way of keeping going and will typically run for a lot longer than UPS devices, however it would be prudent to have surge protectors in place to prevent any power spikes causing damage and you would need to ensure that the generator provides enough power for the key elements of infrastructure.
• Do you have any staff that live in different power grid regions so you could get them to work from home where they have power if the business region doesn’t? Covid meant that a lot of businesses geared themselves up for flexible working, so it may be a case of dusting this off again and asking people to work from home if they have power and the business doesn’t.

When looking at these options here are some key things to consider:

• Decide what is your key infrastructure.
• Do you need the internet to work? How do you connect to the internet, is it wired or wireless connections?
• Do you need the phones to work? Are there alternate solutions like using mobiles?
• Do you need computers to work?
• How much lighting will you need?
• How is the business heated and what impact will a blackout have?
• Does the business have an alarm or other monitored service such as environmental monitoring that will be impacted by a blackout?
• How long will you need to work during the blackout? Would it be 4pm – 5.30pm or 4pm – 6pm or 4pm – 7pm?
• What sort of internet connection do you have, and will it still work if there is a power outage?
• Do you have alternate options for internet connectivity such as 3G/4G/5G mobile internet?

NOTE: in February 2022, there were storms Arwen and Eunice in the UK, where it became apparent that power outages meant that internet routers went offline, impacting the testing of emergency 999 calls which weren’t possible with a broadband only connection. This is the main weakness of VoIP compared to old-style analogue copper phone lines which have their own independent 50-volt power supply. It is also important to test any solutions you want to implement prior to needing it, so do test runs, work out how long your equipment will run for on your chosen solution if you are not shutting the business.

Do you need help working out how much power your key infrastructure would use? 

Call us on 01722 411 999 and we can help calculate your power consumption needs and help with business continuity planning to ensure your business continues to operate despite the power outages.