Chamber calls for compensation after power cuts

The Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce said the Gibraltar Government should compensate businesses for losses caused by recent power cuts, describing the situation as “totally unacceptable”.

It was reacting after a Rock-wide power cut on Friday caused disruption to individuals and losses to businesses for just over two hours during the lunchtime period.

In a strongly worded statement, the Chamber said businesses had been assured when the new power station was commissioned in 2020, and later when the BESS was introduced, that Gibraltar’s electricity supply would be resilient enough to avoid repeated outages.

“When the new power station was commissioned in 2020 at a cost of £120m+ we were led to believe that power outages would be confined to history,” the Chamber said.

“The newly commissioned batteries at a cost of £16m+ would ensure that power across Gibraltar would be maintained if one or more of the generators failed.”

The statement said businesses had been told there was sufficient resilience in the system to guarantee uninterrupted power supply for years to come, but argued that the reality had fallen short of those assurances.

“The experience has been somewhat different from what Gibraltar has been promised,” the Chamber said.

It added that there had been numerous power cuts this year, including two this month alone, which it said had caused “very significant losses” for businesses.

It added that each time after a blackout, “a different reason or excuse is given”.

“Things are no better now than under the previous administration,” the statement said.

“And there is never any accountability.”

“This is totally unacceptable.”

The statement said companies were already under pressure from rising costs, increased taxes and prolonged uncertainty surrounding the treaty negotiations.

“Companies are fed up,” the Chamber said.

“What hope is there of attracting new businesses to Gibraltar if we cannot look after the ones already here?” the statement said.

“The huge strain on outdated infrastructure is unlikely to cope with all the new developments which are planned.”

The Chamber said that after major public spending on power infrastructure, those responsible should acknowledge any shortcomings and bring in specialist support if needed.

“If, after spending many tens of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money, those in charge cannot provide a resilient power supply for the community, they should have the humility to admit their failings and bring in a team of qualified professionals who can,” the statement said.

The statement ended by calling on the Gibraltar Government to pay compensation to affected businesses.

“The Chamber calls on the Government to compensate businesses for the damages that have been caused as a result of these power cuts.”

Last Friday, Gemma Arias Vasquez, the Minister with responsibility for power supply, made a statement in Parliament to provide details on what she described as “a totally unacceptable” outage.

“I am not here to give excuses,” she said.

“The Gibraltarian public has invested hundreds of millions of pounds in Gibraltar’s energy infrastructure, including the new power station, the LNG plant, the BESS system and upgrades to the grid.”

“I fully appreciate the disruption and frustration that an outage of this nature causes to families, to businesses, to essential services and to the wider community.”

Mrs Arias Vasquez said the Government had already held a series of meetings involving the Chief Minister, herself and relevant stakeholders at director level following recent outages, including separate discussions with the directors of the company engaged in relation to the battery energy storage system, the directors of PX and the acting CEO of the GEA.

A wider meeting involving all relevant parties had already been scheduled for Tuesday at 11am to examine the cause of the previous outage and how to prevent a repeat.

Mrs Arias Vasquez said the Government considered it “entirely unacceptable” that failures of this nature continued to happen.

She told Parliament that the Government was already in discussions with a third party with the technical and managerial experience to support the GEA in carrying out its functions and helping to ensure resilience and reliability.

She said that individual would be in place by the end of July.

Mrs Arias Vasquez also said she had requested a full and comprehensive report from the GEA by 10am on Monday, after which Cabinet would meet to consider the findings and the options available to the Government.