Repeated power blackouts hampering festive trade at Edinburgh pubs

Hospitality businesses in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket have warned of the potential for power outages ahead of Hogmanay celebrations.

Some businesses experienced power outages on Tuesday in Edinburgh’s Old Town, which SP Energy Networks said was due to an “intermittent fault”, followed by a further “power trip” on Hogmanay morning.

Operators say the prospect of another outage on Hogmanay, one of the busiest nights of the year, is “deeply concerning” and risks undermining Edinburgh’s global reputation for its New Year celebrations.

Earlier this month, a power cut was traced to a low-voltage cable joint failure near Kings Stables Road Lane. Although electricity was temporarily restored using alternative feeds, businesses experienced multiple interruptions while engineers investigated the fault.

Outages were also reported in December 2022, as well as in 2024 and 2025, involving both low and high-voltage cable faults and affecting a large number of customers.

Louise MacLean, business development director for Signature Group, which has venues across Scotland, said: “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.

“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.”

One engineer attending the most recent incident reportedly told businesses that SP Energy Networks is aware that the issue is ongoing and that the local substation is too small to meet demand.

Around 30 restaurants and bars in the area have been “crippled” by a significant loss to Christmas trade due to ongoing network energy failures, according to a spokesperson for the Grassmarket Hospitality Operators.

Paul Lawrence, chief executive of City of Edinburgh Council, and Culture Secretary Angus Robertson have been informed and received a copy of an email from the group of operators.

In a joint statement, the businesses are asking SP Energy Networks to publish a clear timetable for reinforcing or upgrading infrastructure in the area and to outline contingency measures to reduce disruption during future winter periods.

They say they are awaiting an urgent response and a clear action plan, as concerns grow that further outages could hit one of Edinburgh’s busiest nights of the year.

A spokesperson for SP Energy Networks said: “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.

“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, approx. 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. Power tripped again midmorning today and we’re currently on site and working to resolve this as soon as possible.

“Our staff are going door to door in the Grassmarket to reassure customers that we’re doing our utmost to ensure there are no further disruptions today.

“We’ll also have additional staff on standby tonight across the Bells and into the early hours. We’re happy to meet with any groups affected in the new year to discuss our investment plans to strengthen the network and lessen any disruption going forward.”