National Grid to begin home visits in Taunton next week

National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED) will start inspections as part of a wider project covering the South West, Midlands and South Wales.

The visits are part of a 20-year plan to complete 400,000 cut-out inspections annually on domestic and small business properties.

Richard Brady, NGED’s policy engineer heading the inspection programme, said: "The UK is recognised internationally as having one of the most resilient and safe energy systems, and this inspection programme underlines our commitment to the highest safety standards.

"Inspectors will visually examine cut-outs to check they are working as they should, taking photos and notes for our records.

"In the unlikely event of a defective cut-out being found, NGED engineers will be sent to carry out repairs at no cost to the customer."

The service termination point - sometimes referred to as a cut-out - is where the main electricity service cable and fuse enter a property.

While most newer properties built since the 1980s will have the cut-out housed externally in a meter cabinet, in older buildings, it may still be located inside.

During the visits, inspectors will check equipment belonging to both NGED and energy suppliers.

The checks will be visual only, with no disassembly, and there will be no interruption to the electricity supply.

Mr Brady said the visits also help NGED plan for changing energy usage, adding: "Visits will also be an opportunity to confirm what types of low-carbon technologies are connected to our network, for example, electric vehicle chargers and solar panels, to help our planning for future load growth on the network."

All inspectors will be from contractor A Coole and will be clearly identifiable as working on behalf of NGED.

They will carry identification and official authorisation to enter properties.

NGED advises customers that they may also take photographs of their meter and cut-out to submit instead; the company will then decide if a follow-up visit is required.

The inspections meet NGED’s regulatory obligations under its Ofgem licence to ensure that all cut-outs in low-voltage metered properties are operating safely.