Czech utility ČEZ still reports 30,000 sites without power, awaits customer property inspections

ČEZ Distribuce reported around 30,000 customers without electricity after noon, and in some cases the company is waiting for owners of flooded homes to have their electrical installations inspected. Company spokesperson Soňa Holingerová told ČTK today. Hundreds of workers are still in the field, and 12,000 households have been reconnected in the past 24 hours. Devastating floods following persistent rain have hit the Moravian-Silesian Region and the north of the Olomouc Region in particular.

„More than 30,000 customers are currently still without electricity. There are 27,000 connection points in the Moravian-Silesian Region and more than 3,000 in the Olomouc Region. We are ready to restore electricity to some of them, but are waiting for owners of properties that remain flooded to have their electrical installations inspected and, if necessary, repaired or replaced,“ the spokesperson said.

As of 13:00 today, the company had recorded 70 faults on high-voltage lines, while 383 distribution substations were without power, she said.

According to Holingerová, the biggest problems with energy supplies remain in the areas of Krnov and Bohumín, as well as in Mikulovice in the Jeseník region. The company is moving workers from other locations to the worst-affected areas to help colleagues clean and dry equipment. Hundreds of fault-response crew members and subcontractor employees are in the field; they have repaired 90 percent of faults on high-voltage lines and 97 percent of low-voltage faults. „We are now essentially working through the substations one by one. Where lines have been completely destroyed, we are arranging connections via other lines or mobile backup sources,“ the spokesperson noted.

The company also warned today of fraudulent activity involving the cleaning of main house service cabinets (HDS) in Opava-Kateřinky. „While our technicians were cleaning distribution substations after the flood, a passerby told them that a man was going around the city offering to clean HDS cabinets at connection points for a fee (reportedly 1,000 Kč). Apparently, he introduces himself as a ČEZ Distribuce employee. He drives a black Audi. None of our employees carry out this work,“ the spokesperson warned.

Extensive flooding has been affecting Czechia since the end of last week. As for electricity supply disruptions, the situation was apparently at its worst on Sunday morning, when 260,000 households in Czechia were without power due to adverse weather. ČEZ Distribuce crews have responded to more than 3,000 incidents since Friday, September 13, and the company’s control centre has recorded over 6,300 incidents related to adverse weather and flooding, the spokesperson added.

„Despite flooded substations and an extremely complicated situation in some towns, we are working to restore electricity as quickly as possible to as many customers as possible by Friday,“ the spokesperson added.

Details of the procedure for restoring electricity supplies after floods are available on the ČEZ Distribuce website.