OREANDA-NEWS. Southampton City Council’s Emergency Planning team and Southern Electric Power Distribution (SEPD) are working together on a knowledge-sharing exercise which will benefit the local community during a crisis. Both parties have taken part in back-to-back visits to each other’s local offices, giving everyone involved the chance to get a first-hand behind the scenes tour and a better understanding of their individual working practices. 

The day before their trip to SEPD’s Cosham-based Control Centre, the council’s Emergency Planning team had hosted a similar visit at its own headquarters. One of the main topics for discussion on both days was the way that each group communicates with its customers during an emergency situation, for example, extreme weather or flooding, which could have an impact on local electricity supplies. SEPD recognises that being without electricity can be a distressing and challenging time for many of its customers, and so working closely with groups such as Southampton’s Emergency Planning team is a vital part of ensuring local homes and businesses are kept up to date with its engineers’ progress.

Vic Meyers, who manages the SEPD Control Centre, explained that the visit was a key part of the company’s commitment to giving its customers the best service possible: “We invest millions of pounds every year to make the electricity infrastructure as robust and resilient as possible, and this means that an increasing amount of equipment on our network can be operated remotely from our Control Centre, which in turn minimises the length of time a customer’s power may be off. Nevertheless, there are occasions beyond our control when the power goes off, such as a storm, so it’s really important that we can work quickly and effectively with key local stakeholders. Meeting the Emergency Planning team from Southampton City Council gave us a great insight into how they co-ordinate their operations during a crisis situation. The findings from today’s session will be invaluable to our own internal emergency plans and help us continue to give our customers the best service possible.”

Ian Collins, Head of Emergency Planning at Southampton City Council, said: “The Council works with the emergency services and companies like SEPD to ensure that local communities are supported before, during and after an emergency.  It is important that all agencies understand each other’s procedures and priorities to ensure the best possible response is provided to the public in the event of an emergency. I am greatly encouraged by the investment SEPD has made to their control centre and customer care teams. After spending the day in the centre we have a much greater understanding of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into a response from the company.”