Around 30 restaurants and bars in Edinburgh's Grassmarket have been hit by repeated power cuts just hours before the city's Hogmanay celebrations begin. The hospitality businesses experienced outages on Tuesday and again on Hogmanay morning, sparking fears of further disruptions during one of the busiest trading nights of the year.
The power failures come at a critical time. Grassmarket venues have warned the outages risk both financial damage and reputational harm to Edinburgh as a New Year's Eve destination.
SP Energy Networks attributed the problems to intermittent faults in the Old Town area. The company has pledged to have additional staff on standby during Hogmanay and into the early hours.
Pattern of disruption
The latest outages followed a pattern that has plagued Grassmarket businesses throughout the festive season. On Tuesday, customers lost power for approximately an hour between 3pm and 5pm, then again from 6pm to 8pm. Power tripped once more mid-morning on Hogmanay.
Louise MacLean, business development director at Signature Group, detailed the mounting impact: «Grassmarket businesses have reported a repeated loss of power, but the longstanding issue remains unresolved. Some hospitality venues also experienced power outages multiple times a day during the festive season, putting Christmas trade in the dark.»
The financial toll has been severe. MacLean noted: «In one December weekend alone, Grassmarket businesses lost the whole of Friday night's service and the entire Saturday lunch service, meaning thousands of pounds in lost revenue across several hospitality venues. Meanwhile, business costs remain. Staff must still be paid in case power returns, food is wasted, and bookings are lost.»
Years of concern
The hospitality collective wrote to SP Energy Networks chief executive Nicola Connelly expressing «deep concern regarding the repeated power outages experienced during the Christmas periods from 2021 through 2025».
In their letter, the businesses warned: «These interruptions have had a significant impact on our operations, the customer experience, the visitor experience and overall business and city reputation. We have been informed the SPEN may need to remove supply again tomorrow (Hogmanay). This is compromising our business and the reputation of Edinburgh as the ultimate Hogmanay destination.»
The collective emphasized the broader consequences: «These repeated failures have resulted in substantial financial losses, equipment damage, and reputational harm during peak trading periods. This also impacts Edinburgh's reputation.»
The operators also informed Paul Lawrence, chief executive of City of Edinburgh Council, and Culture Secretary Angus Robertson about the situation.
Company response
An SP Energy Networks spokesperson acknowledged the disruption: «We're experiencing intermittent issues with the power supply to the Grassmarket area of Edinburgh and would like to reassure all customers and businesses that we're doing our utmost to resolve the issue as soon as possible ahead of Hogmanay celebrations starting later.»
The company explained: «Yesterday's faults were the result of low voltage protection fuse operation due to an intermittent fault being defected, which saw customers off for an hour in the afternoon, approximately 3pm-5pm, and again from 6pm-8pm. We fully recognise the impact this will have caused at such a busy time of year, and we apologise for the inconvenience.»
SP Energy Networks confirmed staff are working to resolve the mid-morning power trip and are going door-to-door in the Grassmarket to reassure customers. The company stated it will have additional staff on standby throughout Hogmanay night and into the early hours.
The energy provider offered to meet with affected groups in the new year to discuss investment plans to strengthen the network and reduce future disruptions.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).