Jersey gas firm boss says focus is on restoring supplies

About 4,500 customers have been left without supplies since Saturday

Jersey's gas company says impact assessments for affected customers will be done after supplies are restored.

Up to 4,500 customers have been left without supplies since Island Energy (IE) was forced to shut down its gas plant in St Helier on Saturday.

The company said a software failure had caused the problem, but it was hopeful all domestic customers would be reconnected by Tuesday.

Chief executive Jo Cox said safety was the top priority in restoring supplies.

She said all affected businesses would be visited as part of the process, but hopes that most private properties will be reconnected without with the need for a visit.

IE has said that to ensure the gas supply is returned "as quickly as possible", customers should make sure their supply is turned off at the meter, to make sure all gas appliances are switched off, and then to let them know.

Ms Cox said the company planned to do impact assessments for customers that had been affected once everyone had been reconnected.

She said: "What we'll be doing is looking at every single individual case once we've restored supply and I can see how long people were off for and the impact to them.

"We all have insurance, so I'm sure that the commercial restaurants have insurance for events like this, so do we, so we'll be fully covered by our insurance, you don't need to worry about the revenue impact on the business."

'Safe and controlled'

The company said it planned to prioritise vulnerable and commercial companies during its supply restoration plan.

Ms Cox said safety had to be "top of the priority level" with the work.

"I do understand the disruption this has given to the whole island, and I'm sure that the islanders would rather we operate in a completely safe and controlled manner," she said.

"We've gone through a very strict process, this is gas, it's really serious."

The Government of Jersey said there may be "minor but manageable disruption to hot water and heating supplies" in some of its buildings.

In a statement, it said: "All government buildings, including schools, hospitals, sports facilities, and care homes, will remain open as normal.

"Please check in on your neighbours or family members, as they may be without hot water or heating at this time."

Island Energy said it planned to prioritise vulnerable and commercial companies during its restoration plan

Murray Norton, leader of the Chamber of Commerce, said it was a "costly time for business".

He said: "There has been some great adapting of menus, there was a really good community spirit in town.

"This doesn't take away from the fact that this is a very, very difficult time for businesses in the hospitality industry, and the bonus of a nice warm sun on the weekend has been marred by the fact that we haven't got gas supplies."

Mr Norton said he was "heartened to hear" IE would be reviewing individual cases for potential compensation.

'Keep a record of losses'

He said: "If businesses were affected, I think they should keep a complete record of the bookings they did have and the bookings that they didn't have once they lost their gas supply.

"If they had to close they certainly should be keeping a record of all of that just so they can contact their insurers if they were insured for such loss, and obviously so they can seek some recompense from Island Energy."

Dominic Jones, CEO of JPRestaurants, said the gas outage had caused "significant issues in an already challenging time for hospitality", but islanders should not be put off visiting as services were running "as usual, just slightly modified".

He said while some places had closed "many are still trading normally or close to normal".

Wood-fired Sunday lunch

Iselin Jones, who runs the Moorings Hotel and Restaurant on Gorey Pier, said her team "apologetically got through" service on Saturday for breakfast and lunch, but lost 75% of bookings for the evening.

She said they had had to buy a barbecue to keep the business going on Sunday.

She said: "We rewrote our menu for the next day and did a BBQ wood-fired Sunday lunch, you've got to think on your feet and it meant that we didn't have to turn anyone away, we were able to honour all our bookings and we were able to offer hot food.

"Generally people were really supportive, everyone appreciated it was out of our hands."

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