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Ministers have expressed their "disappointment" at the time taken to resolve the Jersey-wide gas outage as it emerged that some customers could be waiting until Sunday to be reconnected.
The process to restore the island's gas supply will start tomorrow when the plant is switched on, Island Energy confirmed in a statement issued at 18:00 – but noted that premises won't start to be reconnected until the following day.
However, Home Affairs Minister Helen Miles said half-an-hour later that Government had been informed that supply is only expected to be "restored for commercial and priority customers by Sunday and for all other domestic customers by the following Friday". Less than an hour later, the Government issued a correction following a "further update" from Island Energy, and said that all domestic and commercial customers were now expected to be reconnected by Sunday.
The island-wide network has been down since the weekend, affecting more than 4,000 customers and around 400 businesses – including many restaurants who have had to cancel or scale back their bookings.
It had initially been hoped that the network could start to be restored from today, but Island Energy said last night that this was no longer possible.
At 18:00 this evening, the company confirmed that Jersey's gas plant would be turned on tomorrow (Wednesday) and that the company would be "monitoring its performance for 24 hours".
"Should this go as planned we will begin the reinstatement of supply from Thursday," they continued.
"As we have said, this is a staged process so customers will be informed by us when it’s safe to turn on their gas. There are a number of customers who require a visit from an engineer, these will start on Thursday."
In the interim, the company urged islanders not to turn on their gas "until you have been told it is safe to do so". They said the next steps on how to restore gas to homes and premises would be communicated via letters direct to homes, social media, its website and local media.
"We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused and thank all our customers for their support whilst we have been managing this issue. If you wish to get in touch with us then please call on, 01534 755500," the company added.
Deputy Helen Miles said tonight that Ministers and officials have expressed their disappointment that it has taken this long to resolve, but understand "a safe return of supply is essential".
"We understand the incident is incredibly disruptive for 5% of Islanders who rely on the service, and in some cases their customers, and while it falls short of a systemic crisis that would trigger a major incident, the Government continues to review this as part of daily multi-agency meetings and will escalate further if necessary," she continued.
Since the outage began over the weekend, there have been calls to compensate customers.
Consumer Council Chair Carl Walker said that Island Energy should at least replicate the compensation scheme in place in the UK where customers of Ofgem-regulated entities whose supply is interrupted unexpectedly are entitled to £60 for the first 24 hours. This amount then increases with time.
As a private company, Island Energy is unregulated, CEO Jo Cox confirmed to Express yesterday and it is not obliged to provide compensation.
Pictured: Island Energy Group CEO Jo Cox said the utility company may considered compensation on a "case-by-case" basis.
“Within our terms and conditions for domestic customers, it’s clear that compensation isn't part of those terms and conditions," she said, but noted that compensation may be considered "on a case-by-case basis".
This morning, the Government said that islanders without access to hot water as a result of the outage would be able to use the hot shower facilities at Les Quennevais.
Deputy Miles urged employers across the island to "continue to provide support" for those without access to hot water facilities, and asked islanders to continue checking in on family members and neighbours who may also be without.
Island Energy's advice to customers has not changed. Customers should still ensure all their gas appliances – including boilers, cookers, fires, etc – are switched off. The company advises:
Follow Express for updates...
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