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Following is a question by the Hon Li Wah-ming and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, in the Legislative Council today (April 16):
Question:
Regarding the incident of extensive power breakdown in Hong Kong on February 25 this year, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the total number of reports received by the Government on accidents caused by the power breakdown; whether the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department has received the occurrence reports on the incident submitted by the power companies; if so, of the cause(s) of the power breakdown and the improvement recommendations of the authorities;
(b) whether the Government has assessed the economic losses caused by the above incident; if not, of the reasons for that; and
(c) whether the Government and the power companies have received any claims for compensation or complaints from members of the public or enterprises regarding the above incident; whether currently there is legislation to help members of the public or enterprises suffering from economic losses arising from power breakdown to claim compensation from the power companies, and whether there are such terms of protection in the new Scheme of Control Agreements signed between the Government and the two power companies; if there are no such legislation or terms, of the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
In the afternoon of February 25, 2008, consumers in some districts experienced a voltage dip of around 0.08 seconds owing to an electrical fault at the 400kV high-voltage electrical installations of CLP Power Hong Kong Ltd (CLP Power) at Lai Chi Kok. The effect of the voltage dip was also experienced by consumers on Hong Kong Island through the CLP Power – Hongkong Electric interconnectors. For a small number of consumers, their electrical equipment with more voltage sensitive protection device was affected by the incident, including 54 lift service interruptions as well as the signal system of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) causing a slight delay in the service of the MTR Island Line.
CLP Power submitted a report on the voltage dip incident to the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) on March 17. According to the report, the incident was caused by the fact that CLP Power's engineering staff did not follow the proper safety procedures. After completing maintenance works and before energising the circuit, the concerned staff had not removed the Additional Earths, resulting in the voltage dip incident. CLP Power is now reviewing its safety procedures for electrical works.
EMSD is examining the investigation report submitted by CLP Power and will investigate the incident in accordance with the Electricity Ordinance (Cap. 406). If there is evidence that the relevant CLP Power engineering staff failed to comply with the requirements in the law, EMSD will take appropriate disciplinary actions on them. EMSD will also monitor closely CLP Power's implementation of the improvement measures put forward by the company.
The Government has assessed the impact of the voltage dip incident. Based on information available, the incident did not cause any casualties nor any substantial economic losses.
There is currently no provision in the Electricity Ordinance governing compensation matter arising from power interruption. However, the public may seek compensation from the relevant power company through civil proceedings. According to CLP Power, less than 10 enquires on claims from customers were received after the incident and the amount involved was several thousand dollars on average.
Various incentive and penalty schemes will be set up under the new post-2008 Scheme of Control Agreements signed between the Government and the two power companies, covering amongst other things supply reliability of the power companies. In this respect, if the supply reliability index of a power company is below a stipulated level, its permitted rate of return will be cut by a 0.01 percentage point. As a corollary, to encourage the provision of a better quality service, if the supply reliability index of a power company is above a stipulated level, the power company is entitled to earn an additional 0.01 percentage point in its permitted return. This new arrangement will encourage the power companies to continue to improve their supply reliability.
Ends/Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Issued at HKT 16:11
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