In this post, I was supposed to talk about the key events in the life of Lviv region in various areas over the past seven days, but no matter what I write about, you send me comments on only one topic. Therefore, today I am devoting the summary of the week exclusively to the energy situation in our region.
Maksym Kozytskyi, the head of LOVA, informed about this this evening.
As of today, thanks to the titanic work of our energy workers, utility workers and emergency workers, the Lviv region has the opportunity to supply light, water and heat to every home, but there is not enough power in the energy system of Ukraine. This is a consequence of the massive missile strike that the enemy carried out across the country on November 23, as well as missile strikes during the following days, which, fortunately, bypassed the Lviv region!
Let me remind you that all regions are powered by the same power system. Therefore, 50% of Lviv Oblast consumers can use electricity and water at the same time. There are no heat supply interruptions.
I will also answer the most common questions you write to me.
⁉️ Why is everything lit up in the neighboring city/village/house across the street, but we have no light for the second day
Shutdowns are being introduced everywhere. The exception is critical infrastructure facilities. These include medical facilities, CHP plants, pumping stations, military facilities, facilities that provide water supply, communications, servers, drug storage, and law enforcement agencies. 25% of Lvivoblenergo consumers belong to critical infrastructure facilities in Lviv Oblast. If the house is powered by the same line with such objects, the power supply in it will not be turned off either.
And one more thing about the “house across the street”: let’s be honest, you’re not watching him 24/7. Often, just when you turned on the light, the house across the street is out of power, but you go about your business and don’t pay attention to it.
Why schedules of planned outages do not correspond to reality
There is one energy system in Ukraine. If the enemy fires at energy facilities in one region, the whole country suffers from this. This is the case today: due to shelling in other regions, emergency shutdowns were forced to be implemented in Lviv Oblast. This means that the outage schedules are not currently in effect. Such situations cannot be forewarned in advance.
To know the current situation in our region, go to the official website of Lvivoblenergo in the section “Why is there no light?”: https://poweroff.loe.lviv.ua/
Why can’t I call the Lvivoblenergo call center?
First of all, I want to remind you that live people also work in the call center. Keep this in mind when communicating with them. No one could predict that half of the region could be left without power, so the call center is not able to receive calls from everyone at the same time. But:
▪️you can quickly get information about disconnection at your address on the Lvivoblenergo hotline on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lvivoblenergo.hotline
▪️ in Viber and Telegram chatbots: https://loe.lviv.ua/ua/viber_telegram
⁉️ Why are signs, advertisements and poles on the street lit up, and we sit without light
▪️Turning on or off street lighting is decided by the local government – the leadership of your city or village, not the Lviv OVA, which I head, or Lvivoblenergo.
▪️It is up to the owners of these objects to include or exclude advertising, signs and other decorations that illuminate privately owned objects during working hours. Here we can only count on the conscience of the owners.
But it is also necessary to understand that individual houses “light up” because they use alternative sources of energy (generators, batteries, etc.), and they are not always displayed in front of shops or restaurants so that we can say with confidence who feeds on what.
According to my order of October 21, a ban on the use of all types of outdoor lighting during the curfew is in force in the Lviv region, except for the lighting of the street and road network and critical infrastructure facilities. There is also a ban on the lighting of outdoor advertising placed on the facades of buildings and structures, special structures – after the end of business hours, regardless of the organizational and legal form. This ban applies to everyone. If you have information about the offenders, call the police.
If the state did not export electricity to the West, we would have light
This is the narrative spread by Soviet propaganda. This fake has long been refuted. In fact, Ukraine has stopped exporting electricity to the European Union since October 11 – after a massive missile attack. Since that time, all the capacities of the Ukrainian generation work exclusively for the needs of the residents of Ukraine.
Instead of summaries: I read the comments with indignation from each and every one of you. I understand that the situation is making life very difficult for you. But, unfortunately, neither I nor our energy experts can fix it at once.
We will continue to have a capacity deficit in the country’s power system, so we cannot power everyone at the same time.
I appeal to everyone who has electricity at home: spare a thought for those without power. Refrain from using vacuum cleaners, microwaves, coffee makers, dishwashers and other powerful appliances.