Hong Kong sees over 12,000 power outages from CLP glitches in four years

The Environment and Ecology Bureau said on Wednesday that the two power suppliers in Hong Kong, CLP Power and HK Electric have seen over 12,000 and 700 cases of electricity supply interruptions respectively in the four years between 2019 and 2022.

Of which, the Yuen Long power outage in 2022, triggered by a fire from high-voltage cables, affected some 17,600 households. In the same year, CLP saw 2,987 power outage incidents, failing to become eligible for the supply reliability reward, yet the firm was eligible for a reward of HK$19.4 million for restoring power within good time.

According to a scheme of control agreement between the government and the power suppliers, the firms qualify for a reward based on earnings, should they achieve an average grid supply restoration time of less than 65 minutes.

Power firms can receive a 0.01 percent reward if they manage to restore the power supply between 65 and 70 minutes. But they face a 0.01 percent penalty if they restore power within 80 to 85 minutes and a 0.015 percent penalty for more than 85 minutes.