Government highly concerned about power supply incident in some areas on Hong Kong Island
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According to the Electricity Ordinance (Cap. 406) (the Ordinance), the EMSD monitors the operation of the power companies to ensure a safe and reliable supply of electricity in Hong Kong. The Ordinance stipulates the powers and obligations of electricity suppliers, including, in the case of an electrical accident, providing the Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services a report of the cause and what remedial action has been, or will be done, to prevent a recurrence of the accident. Furthermore, the EMSD conducts monthly inspections on the facilities and operation of the power companies and monitors their technical and electrical safety performance. The EMSD has been maintaining close communication with the power companies and conducts regular meetings to discuss the safety of the power supply facilities.
The objectives of the Government's energy policies are to ensure energy needs of the community are met safely, reliably and efficiently at reasonable prices, to minimise the environmental impact of energy production and use, and to promote the efficient use and conservation of energy. The Scheme of Control Agreements (SCAs) provide a framework for the Government to monitor the corporate affairs of the power companies. By signing the SCAs, the power companies pledge to provide sufficient facilities to meet the electricity demand, and are responsible for the provision, operation and proper maintenance of their facilities. In addition, the power companies must strictly abide by their responsibilities, including maintaining high efficiency and quality in terms of reliability of power supply.
In accordance with the SCAs, the Government conducts annual auditing review with the power companies with regards to technical, environmental and financial performance, including customer performance, with an incentive and penalty mechanism established, of the power companies. Among them, the performance of "supply reliability" is the measure of the average service availability index achieved by the HEC in that year; the "supply restoration" is the measure of the average grid supply restoration time achieved by the HEC in that year. The incentive and penalty mechanism in the SCAs is calculated on the basis of annual settlement. We will follow up in the auditing review of the year and examine whether this power supply incident will trigger the relevant incentive and penalty mechanism.
The Government implements policies in the best interests of the public. The Environment and Ecology Bureau will conduct an interim review on the SCAs with the two power companies this year. We will take into account the public's views, the performance of the two power companies in the past few years and the latest economic environment, and propose modifications to the SCAs to the two power companies, including proposals on the incentive and penalty mechanism, such as the need to consider the circumstance of each incident, rather than simply calculating the time for power outage or power restoration, etc., with a view to better safeguarding the public interest.
Ends/Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Issued at HKT 23:20
Issued at HKT 23:20
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