File compensation claims with T&TEC but will you get money?

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You may file a claim for compensation from the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) as a result of Wednesday’s extended power outage.

If you get compensated however is another matter.

An investigation by a Cabinet appointed body will first have to be completed into the matter to determine what exactly went wrong.

According to the Regulated Industries Commission (RIC) Guaranteed Electricity Standards 1:

“T&TEC is required to restore supply after an unplanned outage on the distribution system within ten hours.”

Independent Power Producer (IPP) Trinidad Generation Unlimited (TGU) in a release stated experienced a total loss of facility power at 12.52 p.m on its plant on Wednesday “due to a fault on the T&TEC 220KV Gandhi Village substation.”

This fault caused all generating machines at TGU to trip and eventually lead to a loss of its power supply to T&TEC.

All other IPPs subsequently lost facility generation leading to a total blackout across Trinidad which eventually ended just under 13 hours later.

Tobago remained unaffected by the issue.

The RIC stated that if T&TEC fails to restore power after ten hours residential customers are eligible for $60 compensation while non-residential customers are to be paid $600.

As it stands now in order to even be considered for this compensation you have to file a claim.

“Customers are required to file a claim with T&TEC for relevant compensation. When new systems are fully implemented, breaches of this standard will be automatically determined and customers will no longer be required to file a claim,” the RIC stated.

Apart from this, T&TEC also has Damaged Appliance Claims for customers who believe they may have suffered loss because of the blackout and the eventual return of the electricity.

“It is T&TEC’s policy to promptly and fairly respond to customers’ claims. It may take some time, because we often need to review records, consult experts and speak with relevant parties,” T&TEC stated.

“When our investigation is complete and you have sent in the claim form together with the required documents, an adjuster and /or T&TEC will contact you if it is determined that T&TEC is liable. If however through these investigations it is determined that your claim fall outside that realm of T&TEC’s responsibility you would receive a letter outlining the decision,” T&TEC stated.