Energy company National Grid is planning a major change to its on-call service

NATIONAL Grid plans to reduce the number of after-hours repairs to homes without power because it is cheaper to pay the fines.

The company, which made £5 billion in profits last year, justifies the move by saying such work can be noisy and disruptive.

National Grid, which is responsible for power connections to homes, currently says an employee will arrive within three hours if notified between 7am and 7pm on weekdays, or between 9am and 5pm on weekends.

If a customer is not present, he will be fined €35 ​​per customer.

And if a home is locked for more than 12 hours, customers will have to pay a £90 fine.

But sources claim the company has calculated that the fines could be cheaper than paying staff wages outside office hours.

A source said: “This means some customers will stay out of supplies all night just to save money.

“In the past, the company always put the customer first over costs, but now it’s all about cost savings. It’s wrong.”

A spokesperson for National Grid said: “We are committed to providing excellent customer service and know that any disruption to our service is unacceptable.

“We have publicly committed to minimizing any disruption caused by unplanned power outages – and take this commitment very seriously. Especially for the more vulnerable customers in our Priority Services Register.

“Conducting overnight roadworks to restore power can be noisy and disruptive, so we are considering whether in a small number of circumstances it would be better overall customer service to postpone these repair works until the following morning. No decision has been made.

“If we make this change, it will be on a trial basis, and we will continue to deliver on our commitment to work to restore power to customers within 12 hours under the Guaranteed Standards of Performance program.”