A dedicated storm mode website for National Grid

Weathering the storm:  keeping customers reassured  and informed during Storm Bert. 

We recently launched a new dedicated power cuts website for National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED), and it had its first  proper test at the weekend when Storm Bert hit the UK.  

Over the last week ‘Storm Bert’ has been causing significant disruption in parts of the UK. Named on the 21st November, it’s brought heavy rain, extremely strong winds and heavy snow to affected areas. Roads have been flooded, flights and trains have been cancelled, and homes have lost essential electricity supply as a result of  power cuts in their area.

During a storm is one of the key times that power cuts happen. It’s usually due to damage caused to wires, cables and other equipment during a storm as well as flooding. 

Power cuts website in special ‘Storm mode’   for  Storm  Bert 

Our partnership approach  with NGED  includes  ensuring we have a plan in place in times of  great disruption-  this  is to ensure that the  website and infrastructure can literally weather a storm  and stay available and effective  for its  customers. 

From past experience we understand that  storms  cause significant upsurges in website traffic,  and  as such we  thoroughly prepare the  website and  the supporting architecture  so it can  withstand  such   increases.   

To support with Storm Bert, NGED activated the planned website service for this situation:  a special 'storm mode' version of the power cuts website. We switch over to a pre-planned version of the website that has a dedicated objective of making it easy for customers to report a power cut, keeping them informed of what‘s happening and giving reassurance and advice during a stressful situation. It also helps to communicate to customers that 'the network is having a tough time of it at the moment, but rest assured, we are doing everything we can to help you'. Here are the main highlights: 

National Grid homepage alert 

A storm mode alert appears on National Grid’s homepage. It includes a bold section of the webpage, in this instance it’s dedicated to Storm Bert. This includes an update message, emergency information 24/7 number and a link to the dedicated portal for Storm Bert. 

A dedicated portal for Storm Bert

The  aim of the portal is to  provide  updates on the impact of Storm Bert on the network,  track a power cut, report issues, gain safety tips, and information. 

It enables the customer to: 

• Gain a clear  update of the current situation, for example 'Conditions have eased across the network as we work to recover from Storm Bert'.
• Track a power  cut   in their  area.
• Find  clear 'contact us' information  and emergency numbers fast.
• Report issues with  clear instructions of how they can report a power cut .
• Stay informed with the latest updates .
• Access support and  resources   with  information and advice on what to do in a power cut,  and how to prepare for one.
• What NGED team are doing to help: 24/7 cover, enhanced social media updates, extra engineers standing by, increased customer service staff, increased helicopter patrols mobile text alerts & information, priority services team, red cross help. 

It also includes a  ‘How is Storm Bert impacting us’  section which  is  a snapshot of incidents that are impacting  customers. A  live power map  can also be viewed via a postcode search   to provide additional information on incidents and problems facing the customer's area. A key incident tracker is also made available to customers  with clear, easy-to-read, digestable stats to keep customer  updated and informed. 

Weathering Storm Bert:  

•  The  powercuts website was viewed 247,000 times across the three day period.
• Over half the website traffic was  customers looking  up   powercut  incidents in their area. 
• National Grid Distribution logged 2,507  incidents across their network.
• A total of   310,778  customer's power was restored.

As the digital partner of National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED), we support the large  utility provider with delivering outstanding operational performance to its customers across its digital estate, which includes 18 websites.

National Grid Electricity Distribution  is the UK's largest electricity distribution network and services nearly  8 million  custoners in the  East and   West Midlands,  South West and  Wales, delivering  essential power to millions  of homes and businesses across its regions

If you have  a  software development or website project you would like to talk to us  about, get in touch and  talk to our friendly, specialist team