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Over £5 million is being spent on a major initiative to boost power supplies in Leicester.

Western Power Distribution (WPD), the electricity distributor for the region, is committed to investing in its network to further improve supply reliability and customer service levels.

This new initiative involves the construction of a new substation on Hockley Farm Road in Leicester and the laying of around 10km of underground cable to connect it to two existing substations – one on Blackbird Drive and one near the King Power Stadium. This will help to further safeguard supply reliability to around 42,000 customers in Leicester.

Cable laying works are being carried out by WPD’s contractors Amey who will arrange for temporary traffic management to be in place while the new cables are being laid.

The route for the new cables avoids major roads as far as possible and engineers have planned to carry out any work crossing major routes outside of peak times, to minimise disruption as much as possible. 

WPD’s investment is also designed to better accommodate any increased demands placed on the power network in the future for additional developments.

“It ensures that we can provide a high level of service to these areas in the long term by improving the infrastructure and security of our electricity network,” said Richard Horlington, WPD’s Projects Team Manager for the area.

The project, which has recently started, is expected to be complete by September 2014.

Added Richard: “While this work is being undertaken, our aim is to keep any disruption to an absolute minimum. We have been liaising with Leicester City Council and the Highways Agency to agree on a cable route which creates the least disruption for traffic flow in the area.

“Our intention is also to work on major junctions during off peak times and to keep customers who live along the route informed by letter. We have also been speaking with local bus companies about our plans.”
                           

 Note for newsdesks:
• Western Power Distribution (WPD) is the distribution network operator for the Midlands, South West England and South Wales, and is responsible for delivering electricity to approximately 7.8 million customers in the UK.

• WPD is not an electricity supply company and does not bill customers in the UK. Its responsibility is to distribute electricity from the point of generation to homes and businesses.