The St Lucia Electricity Services Limited (LUCELEC) has launched a detailed review after the third islandwide power outage of the year on Thursday morning.
The outage, which LUCELEC had earlier said was the result of an unexpected shutdown of the power system, occurred at 9:03 a.m., with power restoration beginning at 9:48 a.m., according to the company. Power was progressively restored across the island, with electricity service fully restored by 10:52 a.m.
In a statement issued on Thursday afternoon, LUCELEC said it had started a detailed post-incident review, which will examine the factors that contributed to the outage, assess the effectiveness of system safeguards and identify additional measures to strengthen the reliability and resilience of the electricity system.
LUCELEC noted that Thursday’s outage was the third islandwide interruption affecting customers this year. Previous outages occurred on March 6 and May 1.
The company noted that the March outage resulted from the unexpected operation of a protection system at the Cul De Sac power plant, while the May incident was caused by interference within a breaker.
Although each outage stemmed from different circumstances, LUCELEC said every system interruption is treated seriously.
“LUCELEC appreciates that customers expect a reliable electricity service and acknowledges the impact that interruptions can have on households, businesses, essential services and the wider economy,” it said. “Maintaining the stability and reliability of the electricity system remains a core priority for the company, and significant investments continue to be made in the infrastructure, systems and operational practices that support that objective.”
LUCELEC apologised to customers for the inconvenience caused by Thursday’s outage and thanked the public for its patience while service was being restored.
“The company remains committed to providing a safe, reliable and resilient electricity service,” it added
So should we expect another in Sept. I’m noticing an every other month outage trend. May, July, Sept.
Lucelec in the 7 years I have lived on this island has been amazing. Yes they have had a few issues but compared to Wasco who are useless, Lucelec has been far superior.
They have apologised for the interruptions in our electricity and yes from time to time this happens all over the world BUT Wasco never apologizes and turns of the water whenever they feel like it without any notice to businesses and households, families suffer but still no apology. SO I take my hat off to Lucelec for being big enough to say sorry for the inconvenience caused.