The New Year’s Eve apocalypse cost Russian power companies 1.77 billion roubles, IDGC Holding (Interregional Distribution Grid Companies) CEO Nikolai Shvets told Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at a meeting.
Tens of thousands of people in the Moscow Region and some regions in Central Russia are unlikely to ever forget this New Year’s Eve and the few weeks that followed, which they spent in the dark, without heating or hot water in the tap.
Everyday the utility companies promised to replace the transmission lines torn down by heavy ice build-up. But each time new jolts in the weather thwarted their efforts, or they encountered another glitch in their temporary connection scheme, or local property owners tried to cash in on others’ plights.
On January 28, Shvets finally reported to Putin that “power has been restored to our specifications and is operating normally.” This must have meant that transmission lines had been restored and that the utility companies were back to their normal routine.
They have also completed an estimate of the damages.
“The damages added up to 1.77 billion roubles. But the apprehensions that the damages would trigger electricity rate increases have proved groundless,” Shvets said.
Utility companies have been sorely tempted to push the costs inflicted by nature off to consumers. That is why Putin thought it expedient to emphasize that this scenario was totally unacceptable. IDGC has apparently heeded the warning.
“We keep in close contact with the insurers and over the past period our relations have become very business-like. Hopefully, 95% of the damage will be covered by insurance,” Shvets reported.
There have been complaints about companies almost extorting money from their customers to repair the grid. According to IDGC, there were 223 complaints including 54 reporting extortion.
“All such complaints are followed up on with law enforcement. One complaint was grounds enough for the Odintsovo procurator’s office to open a criminal case,” Shvets said.
Anastasia Savinykh