After Storm Kristin, Repairs Speed Up: 6,500 Homes Offline, Fees Waived

Portugal grid operator E-Redes has trimmed storm-related outages to 6,500 customers, a milestone that means most towns battered by Storm Kristin are back on the mains, but pockets of rural homes may remain in the dark for days.

Why This Matters

• 6,500 premises still off-grid – down from 1 M at the height of the storm.

• No disconnections for non-payment in February thanks to an emergency order by the regulator ERSE.

• Free safety hotline (800 506 506) for anyone spotting fallen lines or damaged poles.

• Temporary generators at schools and care homes to keep essential services running.

Lights Coming Back, One Valley at a Time

Field crews worked through the night with floodlights and drones to locate remaining breaks in the network across the Centre, Lisbon & Tagus Valley and Alentejo regions. More than 2,000 technicians, including reinforcements from Spain, Italy and France, are now patching cables, replacing toppled pylons and splicing new underground sections where terrain allows.

The company has rolled out 6 mobile substations and 500 diesel generators, leap-frogging them from town to town as permanent repairs advance. Helicopters continue to air-lift equipment into water-logged fields around Leiria, the district that sustained the heaviest blow.

Bill Relief and Consumer Protection

The Portugal Energy Regulator (ERSE) has ordered suppliers to waive the contracted-power component of February bills for every customer who lost electricity for more than 24 hours. In practice, that wipes out roughly €10-€25 of a typical household invoice – the equivalent of a week’s groceries.

○ Suppliers are also barred from cutting or throttling service this month for missed payments in storm-hit areas.

○ Any disputes can be filed free of charge through the ERSE arbitration centre; decisions are binding on the utility but not on the consumer.

Staying Safe Around Damaged Lines

Authorities repeat a simple rule: “Look, don’t touch.” If you see sagging wires, a scorched transformer or a pole leaning after heavy rain:

Keep at least 10 metres away – electricity can arc through wet ground.

Ring 800 506 506 or use the Balcão Digital portal. Photos help crews prioritise.

Warn neighbours and, if it’s near a road, call the local GNR to cordon off the area.

Climate Signals Behind Kristin’s Punch

Climatologists from the University of Lisbon note that Kristin formed part of a “storm train” driven by an unusually southerly Azores High and record-warm Atlantic waters. While the number of Atlantic depressions may not be rising sharply, their intensity is – a pattern the latest IPCC report links to greenhouse-gas buildup.

Historic data show that in the past decade, extreme weather events have cost Portugal’s economy more than €5 B, chiefly in infrastructure repairs and lost productivity. Kristin alone toppled an estimated 30,000 trees and flooded sections of the A1 and A8 motorways.

What This Means for Residents

• Check your meter: If power is back but the meter is blank, call your retailer; a fuse in the service entrance may have blown.

• Claim your waiver: Households without supply for at least 24 hours are automatically eligible for the ERSE bill credit – but retain proof of the outage (SMS alerts, photos of the neighbourhood in darkness).

• Expect road works: Replacement of wooden poles with sturdier steel masts will trigger rolling lane closures on secondary roads until at least March.

• Prepare for future storms: Surge protectors, a battery-powered radio and a small solar charger are modest investments that can shield electronics and keep you informed when the grid falters.

The Road Ahead

E-Redes says it will not declare the network “fully restored” until every last meter is energised, yet admits some isolated farmsteads may remain on generators into next week. The utility will publish the next progress bulletin tomorrow morning, and regional civil-protection units stand ready to deliver bottled water or hot meals where fridges and cookers remain silent.

For now, the bulk of Portugal can switch the kettle back on – a small but welcome sign that the country is edging out of Kristin’s shadow.