2024-07-31 16:22:43
“Intensive work is underway, both yesterday and today, faults are being actively removed. By the end of the day, we’ll have tens of thousands more customers with power restored, but we won’t be able to restore power to everyone today. I can’t say whether it will take until Saturday,” R. Radvila told LRT radio on Wednesday.
“The element that we had in Lithuania is not ordinary. That’s why the time is like this. And the forces we are deploying are maximum,” he asserted.
Currently, 240 ESO brigades are repairing faults in the network, more than 1 thousand. energy workers or other personnel. R. Radvila asserts that, in addition to the assigned personnel, contractors’ brigades are also working on network restoration – the maximum possible capacity is mobilized.
“It should be understood that today, when counting people working in the fields, we are counting the majority of Lithuanian energy workers. Our brigades, contractors’ brigades are working. (…) Additionally, we are communicating with colleagues from Latvia, maybe we will use their help as well”, commented R. Radvila.
According to ESO data provided on Tuesday morning, 66,000 people are still without electricity after the storm. 664 users living in Anykščiai, Kupiškis, Panevėžys and other districts.
Who will be compensated?
ESO informs customers who have had or still have a power outage about the compensation procedure.
“We understand the inconvenience experienced by customers, therefore our electricians and engineers, as well as those of the contractors, are working on minimum rest mode and the supply will be restored to the majority of consumers who currently do not have electricity within the next 24 hours. At the same time, we want to inform that residents who will not have electricity for more than 72 hours will be compensated by ESO, as provided by law,” said Rasa Juodkienė, ESO’s public relations representative.
Current legal acts provide that the State Energy Regulatory Council (VERT) must make a decision on the fact and territory of the accident. Then compensation is paid to those consumers whose electricity supply is interrupted for more than 72 hours. The amount of compensation is calculated individually, as provided by law.
ESO’s storm damage data indicates that a disaster zone will be declared nationwide, but the final decision on the fact and territory will be made by the VERT. After the VERT’s decision, the ESOs themselves will contact the customers who are entitled to compensation.
According to ESO, the compensation is calculated from the beginning of the power supply disruption until the power supply is restored. There may be situations when troubleshooting finds more than one fault on the same or different voltage line. For example, after removing a fault in a medium voltage (10 kV) line, SMS messages are sent to consumers about the removed power supply fault.
If, after receiving the SMS, the customers still do not have electricity, they are asked to register a malfunction and search for and eliminate the malfunction in the low-voltage (0.4 kV) lines closer to the object. This can be done on the ESO Disturbance Map. In such cases, the compensation is calculated for the entire period from the beginning of the electricity supply disruption until the electricity is restored at the customer’s facility, regardless of the progress of the intermediate damage removal works.
Legislation provides that in the event of an accident, if the electricity supply is not restored within more than 72 hours, the consumer must be compensated. Its size depends on the duration of the disconnection and the amount of forwarding service fees charged to the customer during the calendar year (a one-time fixed 30% component of the annual amount of the user’s forwarding service fees and a variable 0.7% component of the amount of the user’s forwarding service fees for each additional hour of delay).
ESO calculates that if the average consumer in Lithuania, whose consumption is about 150 kWh/month, the electricity supply was not renewed within 72 hours, he is entitled to a fixed compensation component of almost 35 EUR and a component of 0.82 EUR for each hour of delay.
2024-07-31 16:22:43