CUC crews work to restorepower on Saturday. Pole to the left, middle was singed, pole tothe right was being replaced. Up Front
CUC's Power Outagewas never island-wide
CUC crews work to restorepower on Saturday. Pole to the left, middle was singed, pole tothe right was being replaced.
On Saturday afternoon (7 April), a majorpower outage affected electrical consumers in central George Town,South Sound, Crewe Road and all areas east including Prospect,Spotts, Savannah, Bodden Town, North Side and East End.
The outage was caused by a fire that occurred at approximately12:25 p.m. on a transmission and distribution pole in the vicinityof the Mirco Centre on North Sound Road. The fire was caused bysalt contamination on insulators that lost their insulating capabilitiesfollowing light rain earlier that morning.
The light rain was insufficient to completely wash off the saltbuild-up. As a result, the wet salt acted like a conductor ofelectricity, and the fire started when the electricity made contactwith the wood pole. In order to carry out major repairs, whichincluded the planting of a new pole, it was necessary to de-energisethree major distribution circuits and the transmission circuitsupplying the South Sound and Bodden Town substations.
Customers in George Town lost power at approximately 12:25 p.m.and service to customers in the other areas was suspended shortlythereafter.
Service was restored to customers in stages by re-routing powerthrough unaffected distribution circuits. Customers on WalkersRoad, South Church Street and South Sound were re-energised at1:42 p.m. The majority of customers in George Town were re-energisedat 2:50 p.m. By 3:45 p.m. power was restored to customers inthe Spotts and Savannah areas, Bodden Town and eastwards to theFrank Sound junction. At 3:59 p.m. power was restored to customersin North Side.
The Company was unable to restore power to other customers untillater that evening when repairs were completed. Service was restoredto customers in the Crewe Road and Prospect areas at 7:50 p.m.and customers in East End at 8:06 p.m. However, a small numberof customers on North Sound Road were without power until 11:00p.m.
Caribbean Utility Company spokeswoman, Caren Thompson said: "TheCompany has seen tremendous growth in the number of residentialcustomers in the Prospect and Savannah areas, as well as commercialactivity in the eastern districts. As a result, the Company isundertaking a major expansion of its transmission and distributionfacilities to build additional substations and construct a loopedtransmission system. This will involve the installation of submarinecables, from the North Sound Road Plant to Rum Point (North Side)and Morgan's Harbour (West Bay)."
"In addition to the submarine cable, the Company will alsoconstruct a new overhead transmission line from Rum Point to BoddenTown and from Morgan's Harbour to the existing substation in WestBay. The looped transmission system will provide alternate routesfor the flow of electricity and will greatly enhance system reliability."
"Once the looped system is completed, outages caused by similarincidents will be limited to the immediate area and will be ofa shorter duration. As part of the new transmission line construction,the Company will be installing concrete poles and polymer insulatorsthat provide better salt resistance."
"Construction of the transmission loops will commence inMay 2001 and the West Bay loop will be completed this summer andthe Rum Point loop will be completed in 2003," she explained.
Ms. Thompson further stated that" "the Company continuesto focus on reliability and feels that its plans to loop the transmissionsystem will help to ensure that widespread outages such as theone that occurred on Saturday will not re-occur in the future."
The Company regrets the inconvenience caused to customers in theaffected areas and thanks them for their patience and understanding.The Company expresses its appreciation to the staff of Radio Caymanand Z99.9 FM for their efforts in keeping customers informed ofthe situation. In addition, CUC appreciates the valuable assistancerendered by the RCIP, the Fire Service and Public Works Department.