News Releases

Western Power Distribution (WPD) is investing £700,000 on its electricity network in North East Leicestershire to further safeguard supply reliability.

WPD became the electricity distributor responsible for the Midlands in April 2011. The first stage of this new initiative which started in April involves relaying 2km of cable along Asfordby Road in Melton to connect up to a new substation.  The works will help to enhance supply reliability and enable supplies to be rerouted in the event of any disruption affecting customers.

The second phase of the work started in early April. This involved laying 4.5km of cable along Leicester Road to the industrial estate to help reinforce the network to the western area of Melton including Longfield School.

The final phase will take place in July and will see new 33,000 volt cables laid along Saxby Road and Norman Way to reinforce the electricity network in the Holwell and Old Dalby areas.

“Our aim is to invest to maintain the reliability of electricity supplies for years to come,” said Simon Deacon, WPD’s Distribution Manager for the area.

“We are committed to providing a consistently high level of service to customers and will have spent over £2 billion on our network between 2010 and 2015.

“While this work is being undertaken, our aim is to keep any disruption to an absolute minimum. We have been working closely with Leicestershire County Council’s Highways Department to agree on the most suitable times to carry out the work, so as to avoid traffic disruption during peak times as far as possible.

“We will be working on major junctions at off peak times and will be sending letters to all customers living along the route. We will also be meeting local neighbourhood groups and businesses to discuss what we’re doing and to answer any questions, as well as co-ordinating with local bus companies.”

 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 7.7 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.