Utilities Unite to Ward off Winter

Utilities And Consumer Council

Northern Ireland’s main utility companies have united to help the public ward off winter by launching a joint winter readiness campaign aimed at assisting householders to get winter ready.

Phoenix Energy, Northern Ireland Water, BT and NIE Networks have been working together for the past number of years to provide mutual support and aid to each other during periods of severe weather or other unforeseen situations.

With winter on the approach, the utilities have now united to launch a public awareness campaign to ensure householders know how to prepare their homes for winter. As part of the campaign, the companies have also issued a ‘cut out and keep’ list of useful contact details should utility services be disrupted due to severe weather.

Michael McKinstry, Chair of the Joint Utilities Working Group said, “Over the past number of years, the utilities have been working together for mutual aid and assistance in times of severe weather conditions, particularly in the winter months.

“The combined breadth of expertise between our companies enables us to share knowledge and resources, such as equipment and vehicles, to further improve the vital services we deliver to the whole community, often in very severe weather conditions.

“The impact of recent storms in the UK and Ireland further highlights how our daily lives can be impacted by periods of extreme weather. I am delighted that the utilities industry is leading the way in this and I am pleased to launch this winter campaign aimed at helping homeowners get winter ready.”

“Over the winter period, we will be issuing helpful information for homeowners to prepare their homes for winter and promoting our ‘cut out and keep’ emergency contacts list so the public know who to contact in the event of an outage. Preparation really is key for winter weather and we encourage all householders to take the time to get winter ready.”

For more information on preparing for winter follow utilities on Twitter @phoenixni @niwnews @BTinIreland @NIElectricity.