The Current #016: Storm Season Has Started. Here Is Your Power Cut Checklist
Shamrock Electrical
The storm names for the new season are out, which means the first power cuts of the winter are not far behind. This week: the power cut checklist to sort before the wind picks up, what is actually legal with the plug-in solar panels you have seen on social media, and three dates to know over the next three weeks.
Before the first storm: your power cut checklist
Met Éireann published the 2026/27 storm names on September 1st, and the season runs until the end of August next year. The first named storm will be called Austen. Nobody knows when it will arrive, but the time to get ready is before the wind picks up, not during it:
- Check PowerCheck before you ring. ESB Networks’ PowerCheck site shows live faults and estimated restoration times for your area. If your outage is already on the map, they know about it.
- If it is not on the map, report it on 1800 372 999. That line is answered 24 hours a day. Save the number in your phone now rather than hunting for it in the dark.
- Fallen wires are live. Do not touch them and do not go near them. That includes wires caught up in a fallen tree. Keep children and pets well back and ring 1800 372 999 straight away.
- Have light that does not need the mains. A charged rechargeable torch or head torch in the kitchen drawer beats rooting around for candles, and it is far safer. Charge it this week and top it up once a month.
- Keep a charged power bank for the phones. In a power cut the phone is how you check PowerCheck and keep in touch, so do not let it be the thing that runs out first.
- Switch off anything that was running when the power went, such as the cooker, an iron or a heater, and leave one light switched on so you know when the power is back.
A storm is the worst possible time to find out the torch battery is flat. Ten minutes this week sorts all of it.
Shop the rechargeable head torch
Free delivery from the first euro on everything in store. The head torch is hands-free and charges by USB. For lighting a bigger space, there is also a rechargeable telescopic work light.
Plug-in solar: what is actually legal right now
You will have seen them on social media: solar panels you hang off a balcony or lean against a wall and plug straight into a socket. They are sold in supermarkets in parts of Europe. Here is where Ireland stands:
- Under the current rules, solar panels have to be installed by a professional electrician and registered with ESB Networks. Plugging a panel into an ordinary socket is not one of the permitted routes today.
- Energy Minister Darragh O’Brien told the Dáil in April that he is “very open” to plug-in solar and that it is “not being dismissed”.
- But officials in his own department raised safety concerns, and the rules have not been changed yet. Work on them was still going on over the summer.
- The case for them is real, especially for apartments and anyone without a usable roof, and they are widely used in Germany. That is why the rules are being looked at rather than ruled out.
Our advice as an electrical supplier is simple: do not buy one online and plug it in until the rules change. When they do, we will tell you exactly what is allowed. If you want solar now, going through a registered installer with an SEAI grant is the route that is legal, safe and grant-aided.
Three dates in the next three weeks
- Week of September 21st: Fuel Allowance season expected to open. €38 a week for 28 weeks. The Department has not formally confirmed the start date, so keep an eye on MyWelfare.ie. If someone in your home is 70 or over, check the Household Benefits Package from last week too. You can hold both.
- October 1st: new network charges and a lower PSO levy. The regulator puts the net effect at roughly €41 a year more on a typical bill, with the PSO levy falling to 51 cent a month.
- October 6th: Budget 2027. We will cover what is actually announced for household energy, not what is rumoured beforehand.
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Shamrock Electrical Supplies is an electrical retailer and wholesaler based in Greenogue Business Park, Rathcoole, Co. Dublin. We supply homeowners and professional contractors across Ireland, with free delivery from the first euro.
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Shamrock Electrical Supplies
Unit 22, Block 613, Jordanstown Road
Greenogue Business Park
Rathcoole, Co. Dublin, D24 TX98
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday: 7am to 5pm
Saturday: 9am to 1:30pm
Sunday: Closed