Article updated with more details included thanks to an update from Southern Electric.

As some readers in Ventnor will already be painfully aware, parts of the town were hit by two power outages today.

The first, at about 10:30 just after 10 this morning hitting 830 homes. Souther Electric (SE) tells us that within six minutes they had half of them back on the power by re-routing the supply.

179 homes in the Steephill Road area are still affected and SE hope that they will have them back on “within the hour.”

Problems with an underground cable was the source of the outage.

Second hit
The second power outage started at 3:15, caused by a fault in a high voltage overhead cable, which looks like it caused a problem with a transformer at Niton.

1,700 customers were hit and the engineers are in the process of re-routing the power now.

SE tell us it will be a maximum of 2-3 hours until everyone gets their power back, but those closest to the power outage will take the longest.

Southern Electric power distribution engineers are at Niton analysing the problem and working through it.

Link between north & south Island outage?
We asked SE if there was any link between the power outages in the north of the Island earlier this week and those in the north today and they said not – it’s just down to weather conditions that are around at this time of year.

SE apologise for the inconvenience and suggest that people who are concerned about when their power might be up again, can call their emergency service number on 08000 72 72 82 to get updates.

VentnorBlog – even in power outages!
If you’re thinking that it’s bit daft VB writing about this because those affected by it won’t be able to look it up on their computers – it gives us the perfect opportunity to remind you that VentnorBlog can be accessed via your mobile phone at any time – even during a power failure – just type ventnorblog.com into your handset and you’re away!

Related posts:

• Snow Alert: Power Cuts Expected
  Expect power cuts in some parts of the Island today....
• Lake & Sandown Hit By Power Cut
  Darkness abounds....
• Alternative Budget Suggests Senior Council Officer Pay Cuts (UPDATED)
  Cuts in senior officer salaries could help save other vital...
• Cheverton Down Wind Turbines: Cornwall Light and Power Interview, Part Four (Podcast)
  This is fourth in the series of interviews with Cornwall...
• The Power Of Community: Permaculture Film Night
  [ 11, October 2007; 7:00 pm; ] The Island Permaculture...