Editorial | CLP needs to amp up probe into worrying Hong Kong power outages
- Government expresses “deep concern” after Wong Tai Sin blackout, the latest in a string of outages in Hong Kong that have yet to be adequately reviewed and explained
Authorities are right to demand a full accounting from CLP Power, one of Hong Kong’s two electricity suppliers, after the utility racked up its sixth and worst blackout of the year. The company has now been ordered to review voltage dips and blackouts over the past three years.
The latest incident left about 2,250 households and businesses in Wong Tai Sin without power for more than four hours last week. It happened less than a month after government officials said they were “very concerned” about five previous major interruptions on the CLP Power grid over the first four months of 2024.
That assessment has shifted to “deep concern”. Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan has called for “fundamental improvements” to the company’s culture and electricity supply management system.
Tse told CLP Power managing director Joseph Law Ka-chun the outage should not be “treated as an isolated event”.
Hong Kong has long enjoyed a robust power supply that has been the envy of many communities around the world. This reputation must be defended by staying focused on issues as they crop up and responding in a way that ensures systems are maintained or upgraded to ensure stability in the future.
