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Over £9 million is being spent on a major initiative to improve power supplies in the South Coventry region.

Western Power Distribution (WPD), the electricity distributor for the Midlands region since April 2011, is committed to investing on its network to improve supply reliability and customer service levels.

This essential infrastructure work involves WPD upgrading equipment in major substations and laying 6km of 132,000 volt cable between Earlesdon and Whitley, which will help to safeguard supply reliability to around 33,000 customers in the south of Coventry.

WPD’s investment is also designed to accommodate any increased demands placed on the power network in the future by such things as additional development in the city.

“It ensures that we can provide a high level of service to Earlesdon and Whitley long term, by improving the infrastructure and security of our electricity network,” said Pat Booth, WPD’s Distribution Manager for the area.

The project is due to start in the middle of January 2014, with completion of the cable laying aspect of the works expected in autumn 2014. These works will be undertaken by Balfour Beatty on behalf of WPD.

Added Pat: “While this work is being undertaken, our aim is to keep any disruption to an absolute minimum. The route of the cables is the result of over 12 months of consultation and coordination between WPD and Coventry City Council, Warwickshire County Council, local schools and bus companies, and other utility companies which will be impacted by the works, in order to agree a cable route which creates the least disruption for traffic flow in the area.

“We will be writing in stages to customers who live along the route from early January 2014 to provide further detailed information.”

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.