To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many severe electrical blackouts were recorded in (a) Gravesham constituency and (b) Kent in each of the last five years for which figures are available. (180184)

Major electricity interruptions are reported to the Secretary of State in accordance with regulation 32 of the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002.

Since 2002:

(a) one major incident affecting the Gravesham constituency was reported in 2007; and

(b) four major incidents were reported that affected parts of Kent—two in 2003 and two in 2007.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many power cuts attributable to the performance of networks operated by distributors covering the Kent area were reported in each year since 2002; and in each case what was the (a) date, (b) location and (c) number of users affected. (180185)

Power cuts are a daily occurrence due to faults on every distribution network. Individual reports for each interruption are not submitted to Government. Instead, electricity distribution companies report summary information to Ofgem on an annual basis. These reports include numbers of customer interruptions (CI) and durations of interruptions (customer minutes lost CML). The performance figures for EdF South East (which includes Kent) are: