Connection delays 'frustrating' in off-grid valley

People in a remote valley who have waited decades to get mains electricity to their homes have said they could not use it because of delays getting an energy supplier to fit a meter.

Northern Powergrid connected a number of properties in Upper Coquetdale in Northumberland, but some customers who chose Octopus Energy said they had waited months for an engineer to come.

Sam Wood, who lives at Shillmoor, said: "It is so frustrating hearing the diesel generator thumping away knowing we have mains electricity we can't access."

Octopus Energy admitted "we haven't covered ourselves in glory here" and apologised for delays.

People living in the Upper Coquet valley were, until 2025, among up to 500 off-grid households in Northumberland.

But after a long campaign the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Home Office agreed to pay for its remote properties to be connected as part of scheme to get power to three emergency telecommunications masts.

Northern Powergrid completed the connection to the properties at Shillmoor, which are owned by the MoD and occupied by Sam and husband Daniel Wood and neighbour John Cowens, in summer 2025.

"We approached Octopus Energy to get the meter fitted in August last year and more than six months later we are still waiting," Sam Wood said.

"Three times they've said they would send an engineer out and then nobody's turned up, but other properties in the valley had meters fitted really quickly," she said.

Three miles (4.8km) further up the valley at Barrowburn, farmer Scott Iley also chose Octopus Energy as his new supplier but said the company said "they did not have the capacity to fit a meter", so he switched to British Gas.

But he said there were delays "of a few months" in the handing over of the property's meter point administration number (MPAN), which helps energy suppliers identify a property.

"I had to email and call so many times to try and get it resolved," he said.

A meter was finally installed by British Gas in February giving them access to mains electricity, which Iley said had been "transformational".

"Not having the generator noise and being able to hear the birds is just wonderful," he said.

"It's unbelievable my neighbours are still waiting."

A spokesperson for Octopus Energy told the BBC: "We haven't covered ourselves in glory here, especially disappointing because it's fantastic that homes in the Upper Coquet valley now have access to mains electricity after so many years off grid.

"We shouldn't have been the cause of any further delays.

"While we occasionally have to rearrange visits because engineers are unwell or emergency jobs crop up, three failed appointments are vanishingly rare and we're really sorry.

"New connections are a bit more complicated than standard switches and we did make a mistake which added to the delay.

"We've recently carried out a full review of how we handle these connections and have already made improvements for the future."

The spokesperson confirmed an engineer would "sort out" the meter for John Cowens and the Woods "first thing" on Tuesday.

Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.