Restoring Jersey gas supply may take 'up to two weeks'

The government said people without gas could go to Les Quennevais Sports Centre for a shower

It could take up to two weeks to restore gas supplies to 4,500 customers in Jersey, Island Energy has said.

Islanders affected have been without gas since Saturday after a software failure triggered the plant's shutdown.

The company said it aimed for its plant to be "up and running" by Wednesday and the "staged re-instatement of gas to the network" from Thursday.

Chief executive Jo Cox said it could take between five days and two weeks to restore supplies.

She said the timeline was not fixed as the company was still working on a plan.

'Worst case scenario''

She said: "We can take scenario A... which means that we don't have to rely on engineers to visit your home, or we can take scenario B, which means I have to send engineers to visit every single home one by one before we turn it back on.

"The reason that I'm being slightly vague on the timeline is because, at the moment, until I see a risk assessment for both scenarios, I won't make a decision on which route I'm going to take.

"We're planning for the worst case scenario, which is scenario B, and that could take between five days to two weeks - that's a reality."

The government said islanders without gas could go to Les Quennevais Sports Centre, even if they are not a member, so they could have "access to hot water and showers".

It said it would "continue to liaise with Island Energy and share their announcements on the government social media accounts".

The government also suggested people should "continue checking in on family members and neighbours who may be without hot water or heating".

Island Energy said it aimed for its plant to be "up and running" by Wednesday

Island Energy said it had brought in 30 engineers from Guernsey and the Isle of Man and had 22 from a UK company on standby to come to the island to help with the restoration if needed.

Ms Cox also said the company could not "even start considering compensation" until supplies were restored and the overall impact was understood.

She also responded to calls to provide £60 per day in compensation to affected customers by saying such a move would be "disproportionate".

Island Energy has also asked IT company Rockwell to investigate how a rogue piece of code got into the system and triggered the shutdown.

Deputy Sam Mezec, leader of the Reform Party, said it was "questionable" whether gas should be privately supplied in Jersey.

He said: "It goes to show that this service is so important.

"Perhaps we need to look at it like we do with electricity and bring it into public control and ownership so that we can manage that service more effectively."

Ms Cox said she would be open to discussions about selling the company.

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