Most people complain that the cost of electricity keeps rising, even though these are times of austerity and many households have halved their income over the past few years. Some families are even without income due to the major provider of the household having been made redundant due to downsizing or business closures.

In an unusual show of goodwill for an energy distributor, Northern Powergrid has offered cash back to anyone in the North East who had the misfortune to lose power for greater than 24 hours during the huge storms a few weeks back. No, this will not lower the overall cost of electricity in the long term, but it can help to compensate those households that were inconvenienced due to power outages.

This compensation is being made as a gesture of goodwill, as mentioned above, but it will not be automatic. Consumer Focus, the watchdog group, is advising households that qualify in the North East to register to receive their compensation. It is actually quite a nice amount when it comes down to it as the distribution network operator is offering £54 pounds to those who were without electricity for at least 24 hours and thereafter, £27 for each successive 12 hour period.

During this time when most households are scurrying to make ends meet, any savings or ‘bonus’ is welcome indeed. Northern Powergrid had no control over the weather or the subsequent flooding, but the company is acting in good faith to help those who suffered such inconveniences. Even so, there are those who would like power companies to reduce prices for ongoing savings instead of waiting for a catastrophe to exhibit goodwill. It should be stated that Northern Powergrid is a distributor and not an electricity supplier, so this act is truly appreciated by recipients.