Frequently asked questions
This page provides answers to some of the questions our customer service team is frequently asked. If you have any more questions, please contact our customer service. You can contact us using the chat feature.
General
What is an electricity distribution company?
The distribution of electricity from the producer to the electricity user is always handled by a local electricity distribution company such as Caruna. In addition to electricity distribution, we are responsible for the maintenance, construction, development, fault reporting service and electricity consumption measurement of the electricity network in our area.
Customer service
How do I get in touch with your customer service?
You can contact our customer service by chat and phone. The chat window on our website opens when a customer advisor is online and ready to serve you.
How can I inform you if my contact details change?
The customer's electricity supplier is primarily responsible for updating the details about the customer (name, personal ID code, postal address, phone number, email address), so if your details change, please contact your electricity supplier as soon as possible. You can also update your details using Caruna+. You can contact us via chat if you need any more information.
Invoicing, pricing and products
Can I view my invoices on your website?
You can view your invoices and contracts using Caruna+.
I can't pay my invoice on the due date. What can I do?
We can grant you an extension of up to 30 days from the original due day. The penalty interest for late payment during the extension is 9,5%. We can also make a payment agreement with you to split the invoice into parts. The charge for a payment agreement is five (5) euros.
You can change the payment date on Caruna+ any time before the due date.
Power cuts and compensation
How do I report a power cut?
Check the power cuts on the outage map before submitting a fault report. The map is updated every few minutes. If the power cut shows on the map, submit a fault report only if you have more specific information on the cause of the fault. It can be, for example, a tree that has fallen on a power line, a sparking transformer substation, a fallen pole or a tilted distribution cabinet.
If the electricity is cut off and the fault is not shown on the outage map and you haven't received an alert message from us, the quickest way to contact us is to use the chat feature on the outage map at any time of day. Our free fault reporting service is available 24 hours per day on +358 800 195 011.
Why does the power occasionally go off and there are many short outages in the electricity network?
The power is usually cut off due to a fault. Common causes of faults include storms, thunder and snow loads on trees. Animals such as birds and squirrels may also cause a power cut. Sometimes, we also need to disconnect the electricity for the duration of planned maintenance and repair work.
Blinks (brief power cuts) in the electricity network are usually caused by electricity network protection automation. This suspends electricity distribution momentarily to avoid a fire or danger to life. The protection automation system attempts to restore the electricity immediately, but if the fault cannot be cleared, the system will try again in a few minutes. If the fault persists after this, the distribution of electricity will be interrupted for a longer period.
If the power cut is large in scale, we may need to disconnect and reconnect the electricity supply in order to identify and repair the fault. These connections and disconnections may affect the electricity distributed to customers several times.
Our lights flicker when our neighbour uses a wood splitting machine, pressure washer, grain dryer, or similar. Why don't you strengthen the network sufficiently?
Starting a device that consumes a lot of power when other devices are also using electricity can cause the network to become overloaded, leading to flickering lights. Flickering and voltage dips are not harmful to devices that conform to the applicable standards.
A customer's electricity network is built according to the agreed connection size. Occasionally, a device's start-up power exceeds the agreed connection size.
Reinforcing the distribution network because an individual device causes disturbance is not feasible. If the electricity network is reinforced, the source of the disturbance is liable for the repair costs.
Can I receive power cut alerts from you?
Yes, you can. You can receive alerts about work and fault interruptions in the medium voltage network via SMS or email using our Sähkövahti service. We do not send advance notice by post if you have subscribed to electronic alerts.
Will I get compensation from Caruna for devices that were damaged during brief power cuts?
Modern devices must withstand normal electricity disconnections and reconnections, so we do not compensate for any damages caused by them. If a device breaks down during a normal power disconnection or reconnection, the device is inadequately protected or otherwise damaged.
Read more about the compensation for power cuts and damage.
Connecting to the electricity network, electricity connections
When do I need an electricity connection?
You will need an electricity connection when you are building a new house or other property. An electricity connection is your ticket to join the electricity network, providing you with electricity up to the boundary of your plot and the basis for concluding an electricity contract. In addition, you need an electrical contractor to install a main switchboard and a connection cable on your plot for connecting your house's electricity to Caruna's distribution network.
Contact us right at the start of the building project to get electricity on your plot in good time.
I have bought a property, and I am the new owner of the electricity connection. What should I report to the electricity company?
When the owner of the real estate and electricity connection changes, you can notify our customer service team using the convenient chat feature. If necessary, we may ask you to provide us with documentation to verify the change of ownership.
Construction and renovation of the electricity network
Why don't you just cut down trees near the network? Why do you need to bury the cables?
The reliability of electricity distribution is being improved in several ways, including cabling, replacing pylons, increasing the amount of automation and making ring connections. We are also keeping the areas near power lines clear to prevent wind or snow from knocking trees onto the lines.
Why are you replacing pylons rather than cabling the network?
Pylons are replaced if the line has enough capacity to meet the future needs of customers in the area or if the soil is difficult to excavate.
We build the electricity network cost-effectively to ensure that our customers receive electricity in a sustainable way, looking far into the future and taking local needs into account. In some places, overhead lines are still a better option than underground cables.
How do you choose the areas where you renovate the electricity network?
We build and renovate our electricity network so that it serves our customers reliably now and in the future. We refurbish the network according to customer impact in the order that benefits our customers most. Work begins in the areas with the greatest customer density and volume of distributed electricity.
Our goal is for customers to benefit from the renovated network in the form of shorter and less frequent interruptions and power cuts that satisfy the target levels in the Electricity Market Act.
Why do I pay for network improvements?
Most of Finland's electricity network was built several decades ago, and it is reaching the end of its service life in many places. We want to ensure that the electricity distribution charges you pay lead to real value for you: a modern electricity network that will continue operating reliably long into the future. Renovating the electricity network will reduce the number of power cuts and enable faster repairs in the event of outages.
Can I buy a decommissioned electricity pole?
We do not give poles away for reuse since 1 August 2022. We send decommissioned poles to our recycling partner for use in energy generation.
Technical topics
Can I adjust the load control system myself?
Yes. Our electrical load control management service enables you to schedule electric storage heaters, such as water boilers or storage heaters, to start at night or during the day. Load control allows you to manage your own electricity consumption. The service is free of charge and does not affect the distribution product or pricing.
Joint fibre-optic construction
Is optical fibre always installed when Caruna upgrades its electricity network?
Fibre will be built when it makes financial sense. The operating model is based on the joint construction of electricity and fibre-optic networks. Every area is assessed with a telecom operator. For example, if there is already a fibre-optic network in the area, it is not worth building a second, overlapping fibre-optic network. The construction of optical fibre also depends on whether the local residents are interested in it: it is not worth building an entirely new fibre-optic network if only a few households plan to connect to it.
If the electricity network is already cabled, the benefits of joint construction cannot be realised. A telecom operator may also offer the construction of optical fibre in such areas if there are enough customers interested in fibre connections.
Some of Caruna's cabling projects for the electricity network may be located so far from hubs in the fibre-optic network that it is not possible to build fibre-optic connections.
Who is paying for all this?
The fibre-optic network is only paid for by the households that decide to buy a fibre-optic connection. Households will pay connection fees for their fibre-optic connections as soon as the connection is complete, and the fee will cover part of the construction costs, while the telecom operator's investments will cover the remainder.
The costs of building the fibre-optic network will not affect the price of electricity distribution, so electricity distribution customers will not be left to foot the bill.