Hundreds of music lovers, from across the island, stood in vain outside separate night spots, just after midnight, on December 31, 2012, waiting for further entertainment to welcome the New Year, 2013. For them, it was a disappointment. A power outage, experienced by Anglec, lasting well into daylight, had dashed their hopes.
The crowd had just left various other functions to ring out 2012 and ring in 2013 with hours of feting, dancing and firework displays. One of the main night spots, at which they congregated, was the recently-opened Darwin’s Place at Back Street, South Hill.
There, the narrow one-way road was the scene of heavy traffic, with scores of vehicles edging eastwards amidst the double-parking of many others, and a large crowd waiting for the start of the band music.
Other music lovers wended their way to the Pumphouse at Sandy Ground, a second popular night spot. But, like Darwin’s Place, it was also a vain wait for the revellers in the darkness.
Eventually, everybody at both places headed home without actually knowing the real reason for the island-wide blackout. One rumour was that fireworks at Cap Juluca struck a high tension pole causing the power outage. Another was that a vehicle had collided into an Anglec pole at South Hill.
But none of the reasons told the real story of the island-wide blackout. It was not until some six or more hours later that the power-supply fully returned, followed by a statement of apology from Anglec.
That statement, issued on Tuesday, January 1, 2013, read as follows:
“This morning at approximately 1.00 [o’clock], Anglec’s power plant developed problems with its programmable logic controllers, which resulted in an island-wide power outage. Plant Technicians were able to restore power by 7.00 a.m. today, and are working to completely restore the situation to normalcy.
“Anglec would like to thank the general public for their patience and understanding, and its staff members who worked diligently through the night to ensure that power was restored as soon as possible.
“Anglec deeply regrets the inconvenience caused by this morning’s electricity outage.”
The power plant had been experiencing a few outages in recent times, but this occasion was the longest blackout and one which revellers said had ruined their New Year’s climaxing dance parties.
