Good Evening Bermuda:
Last week Friday, the impact of the island-wide outage went far beyond the loss of electricity. Government is aware and sensitive to the fact that many businesses lost revenue as a result of their forced closure which also had an adverse effect on their staff who would have also lost wages as well.
This unforeseen occurrence has undoubtedly added to the current hardships being experienced by all residents, businesses and employees, due to the pandemic. The Government empathizes with all who were affected.
Unfortunately for the residents of Bermuda, this is not the first time that a blackout occurred this year, albeit the previous occurrence was not an island-wide event. In August 2020, the west end of the island, from Warwick to Sandy’s lost power.
Yesterday, there was a loss of power to over 300 customers. This sequence of disruptions, while, I am sure, is of great concern to the community, I must emphasize it is also of grave concern to the Government.
I have informed the Chairman of the Regulatory Authority (RA) of Government’s position that BELCO, sole generation and energy distribution provider, must be held accountable and answerable to the residents of Bermuda.
As the only provider that currently holds the only transmission, distribution and retail (TD&R) licence, BELCO has a greater duty to ensure that there is a plan to mitigate all risks within their control, whether maintenance, security or otherwise. Such events as the one that occurred on Friday does nothing to enhance the island’s reputation, especially as defined by Section 6 of the Electricity Act 2016 which outlines the purposes of the Act, particularly 6(a): “to ensure the adequacy, safety, sustainability and reliability of electricity supply in Bermuda so that Bermuda continues to be well-positioned to compete in the international business and global tourism markets.”
As Minister responsible for Energy and regulatory affairs, I have directed the RA to provide the Ministry of Home Affairs with the following information as a matter of urgency: (1) the date it anticipates receipt of a report from BELCO; (2) the date it expects to report on its assessment of the events of Friday; and (3) its recommendation as to how this matter should be addressed.
The Government is most concerned about the island-wide outage event last week and of parish outages that are happening more frequently. Government will hold the RA accountable to make specific recommendations including: (a) *possibly* stronger reporting requirements, such risk mitigation plans, and (b) possibly stronger penalties for non-compliance.
My letter today indicated that I expect a report as a matter of urgency. On behalf of the Government and the Ministry of Home Affairs, I would like to reassure the public that we will do all we can to provide answers relating to this unfortunate occurrence.