Engineers are working to fix a series of power cuts which have affected businesses in Edinburgh’s Old Town ahead of the Hogmanay celebrations.
At least 30 restaurants and bars in The Grassmarket have been “crippled” by a significant loss to Christmas trade due to the power cuts.
Pub owners said they had plunged businesses in the area, which is popular with new year revellers, into “a black hole” over the festive period.
SP Energy Networks said it was experiencing intermittent issues with the power supply to the area and the company is doing the “utmost to resolve the issue” as soon as possible.
Owners of the bars have written a letter to the chief executive of SP Energy Networks about the problems with power cuts, which they say they have suffered during the festive periods since 2021.
The letter, which has been copied to City of Edinburgh Council’s chief executive Paul Lawrence and local MSP Angus Robertson, says there is “deep concern” about the problem.
It reads: “While we appreciate SP Energy Networks’ apologies and the assurance that network condition reviews are underway, the recurring nature of these outages indicates systemic vulnerabilities that require urgent and permanent solutions.
“The current approach of reactive repairs is insufficient to safeguard businesses and customers in this critical hospitality district.”
The businesses said they are counting the cost of multiple power failures that are driving partygoers from the area.
It said “the longstanding issue remained unresolved”.
Some venues have reported experiencing power cuts multiple times a day during the festive season, “putting Christmas trade in the dark”.
In one December weekend alone, Grassmarket businesses lost the whole of Friday night’s service and the entire Saturday lunch service, meaning thousands of pounds in lost revenue across a number of venues.
“Meanwhile, business costs remain. Staff must still be paid in case power returns, food is wasted, and bookings are lost,” the letter’s authors said.
A SP Energy Networks spokeswoman, said: “We’re experiencing intermittent issues with the power supply to the Grassmarket area of Edinburgh and would like to reassure all customers and businesses that we’re doing our utmost to resolve the issue as soon as possible ahead of Hogmanay celebrations starting later.”
She said problems on Tuesday were the result of a low voltage protection fuse operation due to an intermittent fault being detected, which saw customers lose power between 15:00 and 17:00 and again between 18:00 and 20:00.
She said they fully recognised the impact it had caused at such a busy time of year and apologised for the inconvenience.
“Power tripped again mid-morning today and we’re currently on site and working to resolve this as soon as possible,” she said.
“Our staff are going door-to-door in the Grassmarket to reassure customers that we’re doing our utmost to ensure there are no further disruptions on Wednesday.”
She said they were adding extra staff on standby across midnight and into the early hours of New Year’s Day and added they were happy to meet with businesses in the new year.
