Gulf | Oman
Electricity regulator to probe Oman power outage
Oman's power sector watchdog on Monday announced an investigation into major power outage that had left large areas of the country's Eastern province without electricity for more than two days
- Staff Report
- Published: 12:48 September 6, 2011
Muscat: Oman's power sector watchdog on Monday announced an investigation into major power outage that had left large areas of the country's Eastern province without electricity for more than two days.
The disruption was blamed on "unexpected and as yet unexplained" failures in grid transformers that supply an important grid station feeding the network that serves the Eastern province.
Failed again Monday
Residents of three districts - Jaalan Bani Bu Ali, Jaalan Bani Bu Hassan and Al Kamil Wal Wafi - had to endure intermittent power supply since Saturday just as the Eid holiday was coming to an end, and children across the nation were preparing to start a new school year.
While power was briefly restored on Sunday, the network inexplicably failed again on Monday despite a concerted effort by utilities to identify and tackle the glitch.
In a statement, the Authority for Electricity Regulation, Oman pledged a full inquiry into the blackout and promised to make its findings public. It also criticised the utilities responsible for supplying electricity to the Eastern province.
"The Authority wishes to reassure customers that appropriate steps are being taken to understand the causes of the supply interruptions and that licensees will be required to take appropriate steps to ensure they do not reoccur. The authority considers extended interruptions to electricity supply to be unacceptable and that customers have a right to expect publicly funded electricity companies to expend maximum effort when providing services to ensure continuous and reliable supplies of electricity," the regulator said.
Emergency supply was being made available to essential facilities such as hospitals, health centres, water pumping stations, and security agencies, the regular stated, adding that the utilities concerned were making all efforts to restore electricity supplies to the affected areas.
News Editor's choice
-
Impounded cars may be sold off
Abu Dhabi Municipality warns motorists who have abandoned cars in the emirate
-
Parents to control how children use their phones
Move will help protect youngsters from pornography and bullying
-
Rare eclipse crosses Asia
"Ring of fire" is seen by millions in Asia and parts of America
