A COUPLE who claim to have experienced wild dips and surges in their power supply causing household equipment to malfunction have been shocked to discover the fluctuations are permissible under new European Union legislation, reports Mike Addison.

Robert and Rosamund Ridley, who live in the remote Kentmere Valley, have been charged up to take action after receiving a letter from United Utilities, which suggests that if using computers it would be advisable for them to buy and install an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system to control the energy swings.

They say the letter adds that EU legislation allows voltages ranging between 207 and 253 the normal supply in this area is 240 volts - and that the company is complying with the law. But Mr and Mrs Ridley believe the company has discharged its duties towards customers and cannot understand why a high tech country like Britain should be "harmonising downwards" to "the level of the poorest Eastern Bloc countries."

Mr and Mrs Ridley, of Great Overend, claim problems came to a head in January when the lights in their Kentmere home flared and dipped noticeably, causing damage to a computer hard disk, containing their 16-year-old daughter Eleanor's AS level course work, and the dishwasher to go up in black smoke. They had to pay a fee of £400 to a business to retrieve the important data lost on the hard disk.

When problems persisted and a voltage warning started flashing up on another personal computer, the couple called in United Utilities. A voltage meter was installed for a week and subsequent analysis confirmed voltage to the property had fluctuated between 220 and 253 volts.

United Utilities then installed a voltage regulator at a nearby electricity substation that the couple said is "an admission that the electricity supply to the area is inadequate." But United Utilities said no other customers in the area had been affected.

"We have first-hand experience of living with the voltages standard in the former Eastern Bloc," said Mrs Ridley, who works from home as a writer and journalist. "Why should newly-imposed EU legislation permit such a wide range of voltages? Surely the purpose of so-called harmonisation should be to bring all areas up to the level of the most advanced countries."

The couple have circulated a leaflet to residents of Kentmere urging them to raise any concerns they may have about the village's electricity supply at Monday night's parish meeting.

A United Utilities spokesman said the company sympathised with Mr and Mrs Ridley but added that tests had shown that the power supply to their home was well within industry parameters.

"As soon as we were made aware of their concerns, we sent out engineers to test overhead lines and the local sub-station but no problems were found there. Never-theless, we have installed a voltage regulator to help with their concerns as part of our commitment to customer care."

May 16, 2003 09:00