Customers in the Highlands and Islands who suffer power cuts will have to be paid compensation for the first time, following energy regulator Ofgem's new framework for electricity distribution networks.
This does away with the discretion allowed to power companies over whether to pay compensation in the region.
The payments will be made to customers registered as vulnerable and, in line with the rest of the country, compensation will be triggered earlier.
The regulator said "Through the framework, Ofgem is leading customer improvements in a number of areas, including reducing the time a customer is off supply before becoming eligible for a compensation payment from 18 hours to 12."
The new system will begin in 2015. It is understood the change was seen as necessary following confusion over who was entitled to compensation after the disruption to power supplies in the storms in December 2011 and January 2012.
Danny Alexander, LibDem MP for Inverness, Nairn Badenoch and Strathspey, said he was delighted Ofgem had recognised the anomaly.
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