Why South Kildare Keeps Going Dark: Power Outages Tied To Farming Incidents And Contractors

Thursday, 17 October 2024 16:45

By Martin Osborne

Kfm understands that the first outage was caused by farm machinery bringing a conductor to the ground.

A wave of unplanned power outages in South Kildare has disrupted the lives of families and remote workers, prompting urgent calls for action.

The outages, affecting areas like Rathangan, Monasterevin, and Athgarvan, have left households struggling to cope with the unpredictable loss of electricity, particularly those dependent on medical devices and remote work.

Kfm understands that the first outage was caused by farm machinery bringing a conductor to the ground.

The second incident was caused by a contractor damaging a cable during earthworks.

The third and fourth incidents were caused by small sections of the overhead wire looking weak and damaged and needing to be dealt with as an emergency.

Up to 2,000 people were affected because an overhead line was hanging low.

It was deemed a danger and had to be dealt with in an unplanned manner.

Senator Mark Wall said one of the most alarming consequences of the power cuts is the risk posed to individuals relying on life-saving medical equipment.

He said in recent weeks, numerous families have reported that essential devices, such as sleep-assistance machines, have repeatedly shut down without warning due to power outages.

He explained how families are facing unprecedented anxiety, as the unpredictability of these outages makes it impossible to plan ahead.

He said with the rise of remote work, many households depend on stable internet connections and electricity to maintain their livelihoods. However, frequent outages are forcing locals to "rush" back to their workplaces to continue their jobs.

"We pay the highest prices for electricity in the EU, yet the infrastructure is clearly failing us," he said.

While planned outages are communicated well in advance, the unplanned disruptions leave families and workers scrambling," he said.

In response to Wall, Sean Fleming TD said: "ESB Networks does its best, but unfortunately sometimes things can happen. There needs to be provision made on an ongoing basis for those who need power for medical devices or working from home."