Author: ajt

In recent months, SKELEC has successfully maintained its billing period at 28-31 days, primarily due to our AMI Smart Metering System. This trend however, was adversely affected by an interruption in the billing process during the month of October, which resulted in extended billing periods of up to 47 days for some accounts. Hence, some customers would have received a monthly bill beyond their usual charges.

It is expected that SKELEC will revert to its normal billing process in November 2018. Customers will realise a shorter billing period. For customers with consistent daily electricity usage, this should result in a decrease in the November bill.

SKELEC sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to you our valuable customer. Affected customers who are unable to pay the October bill in full, will be allowed to clear the outstanding amount by the due date of the November bill.

Please be guided accordingly.

Sincerely
ST. KITTS ELECTRICITY COMPANY LIMITED

Presently the island of St. Kitts is under a Tropical Storm Watch. This means that tropical storm conditions could be expected within the next 24 hours.

As a result SKELEC is advising all its valued customers that the electricity service will remain on once it is safe to do so. However, customers should take the necessary precautions to protect their equipment during the passage of the storm. Unplug all appliances and electronics not in use as lightning strike may damage appliances even though they are turned off, but are plugged into the electricity supply.

After the storm SKELEC will make further announcements about recovery efforts, if necessary.

SKELEC wishes that everyone remain safe during this time and remind all that our emergency numbers are 600, via mobile and 465-2013.

On Thursday August 23rd at approximately 9:00pm there was an outage that affected customers from Tabernacle to the eastern side of Newton Ground.

Our emergency crews were dispatched and after identifying the cause of the problem, and repair work completed, service was restored to customers up to St. Paul’s at 9:50pm.

However, customers from St. Paul’s to parts of Newton Ground remained without service overnight. Our crews are still out and have identified the issue for that service interruption in the White Gate area and is working to have service fully restored to all customers by 2:15pm today.

SKELEC apologises to all our customers that have been affected by this outage.

In December of 2017, the St. Kitts Electricity Company Limited (SKELEC) completed the project phase of its AMI smart meter deployment. This puts St. Kitts among the leading Caribbean Utility Companies that afford customers up to date metering services such as remote disconnection and reconnection, on the spot final billing, remote reads and more.

The completion of the AMI smart meter project has also paved the way for the implementation of the new and ground-breaking service to St. Kitts, SKELEC’s Prepaid Metering – POWER UP. This service will enable customers to purchase electricity in advance and at their convenience.

This revolutionary service is expected to provide many benefits to customers including:

• Empowering them to better understand their energy usage and make informed decisions
• No monthly bill
• No disconnection / re-connection charges
• No deposit – lowers barrier for new customers
• An installment-based Debt Payment Plan for consumers who have large outstanding balances.

While the prepaid service is designed for any customer wanting to take control of their energy consumption, it is also being targeted at

• Customers who frequently move
• Rental properties
• Apartments
• Persons unable or unwilling to pay a deposit
• Disconnected customers wishing to be reconnected but who are unable to pay off their existing balance.

The pilot program will be launched for the staff of the company in August. The full launch of the program will take place later this year at a date to be announced. SKELEC has planned several educational activities aimed at informing the general public of the workings of this new service.

On Monday July 9th, 2018 SKELEC launched its new Summer Internship Program. The program was created to specifically target 4th and 5th form students from the local secondary schools as well as students of the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College interested in careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math).

Schools were asked to submit the names of at least two potential candidates. . In the end six (6) students were chosen. They are Joshua Pereira and Shaheim Allen of the Basseterre High School, Careem Johashen and Stevan Francis and Jevanne Scarlet of the Washington Archibald High School, and Devonte Liburd of the Cayon High School.

During the opening ceremony, which was chaired by Customer Service Supervisor, Ms. Desiree Syder, Mrs. Pearl Williams, Finance Manager and General Manager (Ag.) gave opening remarks and disclosed that the internship program was derived from SKELEC’s mandate to provide work experience for aspiring young engineers and technicians, to create interest within the field of STEM and to groom potential candidates for SKELEC’s workforce.

Public Relations Officer, Mr. Gawain Fraites enlightened the interns on the history of SKELEC from its inception in 2011. Transmission and Distribution Manager, Mr. Clement Williams impressed on the youth the importance of safety in the workplace and emphasized that one of the company’s core values entrenched in its motto was the safety and well–being of all staff. Mr. Nelson Stapleton, Maintenance Engineer and Mr. Collin Brown Operations Engineer gave brief remarks on their work history including their experience as interns at NEVLEC and APUA (Antigua) respectively.

Also, in attendance at the opening ceremony were Engineers and Managers from various departments within the company. The opening ceremony was preceded by an orientation session conducted by Ms. Ruthlin Harris, Personnel and Training Manager where the students were informed of the company’s structure, rules and regulations.

SKELEC’s Summer Internship Program runs until the 31st of August 2018. It is the company’s hope to host the program next year and as such schools are asked to be on the look-out for information regarding the application process.

At about 8:30 pm on Friday 27th July 2018, a fire occurred at the SKELEC Power Station at Needsmust.

Due to the quick actions of the operators on duty, the fire was extinguished using the plant’s own extinguishers prior to the arrival of the fire department.

The cause of the fire was identified and the manufacturer was contacted and is expected on site next week to carry out further investigations.

SKELEC would like to express its sincerest appreciation to the staff on duty at the Power Station during the time of the incident for their quick and decisive actions.

There was no disruption in the power supply.

As of 9pm this evening, electricity has been restored to all customers with the exception of customers in the areas of Moulineux to Mansion and Buckleys to Boyds. In restoring the electricity, faults were identified within the transmission system in these areas. Our emergency response crew and engineers are still working on restoring electricity to the affected areas.

Once again SKELEC wishes to apologize to all our affected customers.

SKELEC wishes to apologize to its customers for the unplanned outage which occurred today, Tuesday, 03 July, 2018 at approximately 12:50 pm. This was due to a mechanical fault stemming from the Needsmust Power Plant.

SKELEC was able to begin restoring power to affected areas within forty-five (45) minutes of the outage. At present, the following areas remain without power:

• Parts of Cayon feeder
• Bayfords feeder
• Frigate Bay feeder
• Sandy Point feeder

SKELEC would like to thank its customers for their patience and understanding and look forward to continuing to provide a reliable service to the people of St. Kitts.

CASTRIES, St. Lucia, June 18, 2018– The Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC), which plays a leading role in electric utility advocacy, growth and sustainability in the Caribbean region, Central and South Americas is pleased to announce the appointment of the following individuals to its Board of Directors at its Annual General Meeting and thanks Mr. Peter Williams, Emera Caribbean; Mr. Colin Cover, Grenada Electricity Services Ltd;  and Ms. Kelly Tomblin, Jamaica Power Service Company Ltd for their distinguished service.

At the meeting, Belize Electricity Limited’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Jeffrey Locke was elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the period 2018 – 2020 after serving as Vice Chairman for the past two years. He succeeds Mr. Colin Cover, Chief Executive Officer of Grenada Electricity Services Limited. Elected as Vice Chair was Mr. Eddington Powell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fortis TCI.

Mr. Locke has over 30 years of experience in the energy industry and continues to lead the successful transformation of BEL since June 2011. “CARILEC has a rich history of enabling utilities in the region to network and serve the people of the Caribbean better,” said Mr. Locke as he accepted his appointment. “We will be rolling out our new Strategic Plan to support our members as they expand their services to customers and transform from electric utilities to energy service providers.”

Newly Appointed Directors – 2018-2021

1. Mr. Roger Blackman – Barbados Light and Power Company Ltd.
2. Mr. Jervan Swanston – Nevis Electricity Company Ltd.
3. Ms. Sheree Martin – Jamaica Public Service Company Ltd.
4. Mr. Rabindre Parmessar – N.V. Energiebedrijven Suriname
5. Mr. Hugo Hodge Jr.  – Tantalus Systems Inc. (Associate Director) – 1 Year

• Gianni Moreno – ABB Inc. (Alt Associate Director) – 1 Year

Continuing Directors

1. Mr. Jeffrey Locke – Belize Electricity Ltd. (Chairman)
2. Mr. Eddinton Powell – Fortis TCI Limited (Vice Chairman)
3. Mr. Collin Cover – Grenada Electricity Services Ltd.
4. Mr. Thornley Myers – St. Vincent Electricity Services Ltd.
5. Mr. Leroy Abraham –  British Virgin Islands Electricity Corporation
6. Mr. Trevor Louisy – St. Lucia Electricity Services Ltd.
7. Mr. Fred Cuvalay – St. Eustatius Utility Company
8. Mr. Franklin Hoevertsz – Utilities  Aruba
9. Mrs. S. Bertilia McKenzie – Dominica Electricity Services Ltd.
10. Dr. Cletus Bertin – Executive Director/CARILEC (Ex-Officio)

As part of its tree cutting campaign, the St. Kitts Electricity Company Limited (SKELEC) wishes to remind the general public that in the event of a hurricane, overgrown trees and branches may come into contact with power lines, posing serious threats to our Transmission and Distribution System. Overgrown trees and branches can cause lines to snap, thus endangering lives and property as well as hampering recovery efforts.

Anyone with trees on their property that are in close proximity to power lines, are kindly asked to trim the trees taking all the necessary precautions to ensure that they do not damage the power lines.

In cases where it is not possible to safely trim the trees, please contact SKELEC at 465-2000 extensions 321 or 3001 for assistance prior to pruning or cutting.
At SKELEC, safety comes first.