Parliament statement: Govt orders investigation into latest power outage & acting GEA CEO apologises

The Government has ordered a report and an independent investigation after today’s power outage, which it says was caused by a major earth fault in the Ocean Village area affecting the power station.

The power outage came, ironically, as the Minister for public utilities was due to answer questions in Parliament about power.

Instead the afternoon session began with a statement by Gemma Arias-Vasquez, who described the repeated outages as "entirely unacceptable" and said the latest incident was unrelated to previous failures.

She said meetings had already taken place with the LNG supply company and the Gibraltar Electricity Authority, with a wider meeting scheduled next week.

A comprehensive report has been requested by Monday, while a third-party investigation is expected to begin in July.

Opposition Leader Keith Azopardi said power cuts were happening too frequently, causing disruption to residents, businesses and tourists. He questioned why the the problem had not been resolved after 15 years of GSLP-Liberal government.

Chief Minister Fabian Picardo accepted the outages were unacceptable but said no electricity island could guarantee uninterrupted supply. He said there had been continued investment in Gibraltar's electricity network since 2015, contrasting it with what he said had been 16 years without investment before his government took office.

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Acting CEO of Electricity Authority has apologised for Friday's power cut.

He joined Melanie Chipolina Guilliano in studio.