Power cuts survey finds two-thirds of UK residents have experienced an outage in their local area

KPower’s exploration into power cuts has revealed that two-thirds (66%) of surveyed Brits have experienced a power cut with the average length of disruptions being 2 and a half hours.

UKPower wanted to examine how power cuts differ around the UK in further detail, to do so, they commissioned a survey of over 2,000 residents to explore the frequency, length and most common time for electricity failures to transpire.

Speaking on the survey, Philip Brennan, MD at UKPower, comments:

”Power cuts can be a highly irritating experience, causing significant disruption to our day and preventing us from completing tasks around the home and at work.

“Our investigation found that the impact of power disruptions can be significant. Overall, we found that the average length for power cuts is two and a half hours – which can significantly hinder those working from home or relying on electricity to heat their homes, cook their food, and wash their clothes.

”Sadly, we also discovered that almost half of adults in the UK do not feel that their energy provider deals with power interruptions as quickly and efficiently as they would like. This is disappointing, as a quick resolution can often make these stressful situations more bearable for the public.”

Firstly, UKPower wanted to examine how frequent these energy failures were around the UK. The survey found that two-thirds of respondents (66%) have experienced a power cut in their local area.

Additionally, 23% revealed they experienced a loss of power on an annual basis while 10% stated this happens every 6-10 months.

The survey also found that the average length of a typical power cut in the UK is 2 and a half hours, with the most common time for outages being 9:54 am.

UKPower aimed to find out how these outages can affect residents directly, they questioned respondents and found the top three responses were:

• Power cuts affect my ability to communicate (via telephone/internet): 21%

• Power cuts affect my ability to work or carry out household tasks: 20%

• Power cuts cause me emotional stress or anxiety: 11%

With so many employees still working from home, power cuts come with a disruptive nature to people relying on a stable Wi-Fi connection to carry out tasks. It was also unfortunate to note that 11% of survey respondents experience emotional stress as a result of outages, highlighting the additional issues these power instabilities can cause.

Lastly, when asked if residents believe their energy supplier responds to power cuts in a prompt and acceptable manner, 44% of UK adults revealed that they don’t.