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Phases, restoration plans, and a proposed meal service... Island Energy and the Government’s latest statements on the gas outage have left many islanders filled with questions about when the supply will be turned back on, what support or compensation they'll be getting, and what went wrong in the first place.
Express understands that the switch-on and 24-hour monitoring of the main gas plant has been successful, setting the company on track to begin re-connecting islanders.
The latest statement, released this morning, announced that this would be done in two phases, but did not provide detail on an exact timeline, which customers would fall into each phase, and how many of them there were.
Previously, the Government had said it understood all islanders would have their supply restored by Sunday.
Island Energy were due to release a further update at "lunchtime", but at the time of writing, officials were in a meeting to finalise the next steps, Express was told.
Island Energy said: "We know who these customers are.
"Customers in this phase are receiving communications from us via letter, SMS and email letting them know that an engineer will be restoring their supply.
"If customers are out when an engineer visits, they will receive a slip through their door asking them to book an appointment."
The statement said: "This means they do not need a visit from an engineer.
"Customers who can self-restore are receiving communications via letter and email with step-by-step instructions of how to do this.
"We will inform customers when it is time to turn on their gas via letter, email, text, through local media and on our website and social media channels."
A statement from the Government released yesterday evening – five days after the outage began – said that the Government was still working to help resolve the situation.
It noted that "welfare plans" were being put in place and also suggested that a restaurant meals scheme was also due to be announced, but limited detail was provided.
Home Affairs Minister Helen Miles said: "Island Energy engineers are this evening (Wednesday) visiting all remaining medium-pressure customers to ensure the appropriate procedures are followed before the supply of gas can be restored.
"We understand that this is a very challenging and frustrating time for islanders, and we continue to liaise with Island Energy to ensure the needs of businesses and the public are met."
1/8: Statement from the Minister for Justice and Home Affairs, Deputy Helen Miles:
— Government of Jersey (@GovJersey) October 11, 2023
Ministers and officials have been informed by Island Energy that checks are continuing at the gas plant with the hope of restoring the gas supply from tomorrow.
The statement also said they were "pleased to have been informed that Island Energy are putting welfare plans in place to support islanders who require hot showers and heating, including liaising with two restaurants for a meal service and three gyms for showers. Details will be shared soon."
It continued: "The work of Government to manage this situation continues.
"The States of Jersey Police have offered to support engineers in their house-to-house visits, if required. The States of Jersey Fire and Rescue Service have begun safety messages for the public.
"We have continued to share all Island Energy messages on Government social media channels and have kept islanders informed via the media."
It continued: "We are ready to stand-up a Government helpline to offer further support for vulnerable islanders.
"We have contingency plans in place to provide additional support for heating and hot water, should this be required.
"Islanders are reminded to continue checking in with neighbours and family members who may be without hot water or heating."
Numerous islanders have criticised Island Energy and Government over the speed and lack of detail in their communications – and, in some cases, errors too.
The Entwistles owner also criticised the fact that he had been told he would be receiving no compensation, despite the fact that his business had would suffer £10,000 in losses due to the gas outage.
Dominic Jones, which runs the business behind the Oyster Box and Crab Shack, also slammed the lack of regular updates on X (formerly Twitter) when the outage first occurred over the weekend.
He also queried why, in one update, Island Energy said its engineers would only be working until 19:00 and then starting at 08:00 the next day.
Deputy Lyndon Farnham, meanwhile, criticised the Government for its apparent lack of action.
"Where is the leadership on this, what exactly is going on, when and how will it be resolved, what is the plan to help the people and the businesses affected?" he wrote on X.
Home Affairs Minister Helen Miles later issued a statement – containing an error about reconnection timings which later had to be corrected – saying that Ministers and officials were disappointed it had taken so long to resolve the issue.
She went on to remind islanders that those 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.
An Island Energy customer also raised concerns that the gas supplier had sent out a letter containing a wrongly spelt web address whilst trying to get customers to report that they had turned off the gas supply to their homes at the meter.
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