Recently Hongkong Electric released statements declaring its refusal to interconnect with CLP Power and has responded irresponsibly to the aftermath of the Lamma Island June 19 power outage. Such gestures exhibit a lack of integrity and commitment to the future of Hong Kong's sustainable development and an unfortunate failure to fulfil its responsibility to its customers. Hongkong Electric has stated that its electric reserves might not meet the demands for the year 2003 but still refuses to interconnect its network. Last year, China Light & Power declared it has surplus power reserved - why won't Hongkong Electric make use of this surplus power? Not only is such action an unnecessary waste of valuable natural resources, but Hongkong Electric's proposed plan to expand its Lamma Island power plant is an expensive and unnecessary project. The huge cost of this expansion will be another financial burden on the Hong Kong public in this time of economic difficulties. At this stage while the Government has yet to make any official decisions, Hongkong Electric has unilaterally declared its refusal to interconnect. On the one hand Hongkong Electric is hurriedly pressuring the Government to approve its power plant expansion plans; on the other it has already gone ahead and signed a contract with China National Offshore Oil Corporation for their Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal. Hongkong Electric's premature signing of this contract before official government approval raises suspicion that it acts solely in the profit-seeking interests of its company by continuously increasing its fixed assets, without due regard for public concerns or protocol. They are attempting to take advantage of the existing loopholes in the outdated Scheme of Control Agreements to reap even greater profits. In regard to the June 19 Lamma Island power outage, Hongkong Electric ought to be held fully responsible for their own failure to uphold proper maintenance procedures. They claim that the shifted position of a cable was the cause of the outage, despite the fact that such a cable has a lifespan of 30 years and the cable in question has only been in use for 18 years. The 11-hour period which Lamma Island residents had to endure without power is evidence that Hongkong Electric lacks an adequate contingency plan for power outages. Such contingency can be backed up by a territory-wide interconnection of electricity supply. The power outage not only caused great inconvenience to residents, but also resulted in financial losses for the retailers and restaurants. Hongkong Electric has refused to fully compensate for these damages but has only offered to refund half of the electricity bill for the month of June. While many restaurants and shopowners suffered losses upwards of $10,000, the cost of half their average monthly electricity bill only amounts to $2,000 to $3,000. The refund offered is hardly sufficient to cover the damages incurred. We call for Hongkong Elec tric and CLP Power to interconnect their supply network in order to sincerely promote a more energy-efficient future. We also demand that Hongkong Electric fully compensate Lamma Island restaurants, retailers and residents for damages incurred from the power outage in order to fulfil their mandate as a responsible public utility provider. GREEN LAMMA
