THE new chief executive of Island Energy has apologised to Islanders evacuated from their homes after a gas leak at the weekend and vowed to review the way the company communicates when such incidents take place.
More than 50 homes at Le Clos Mourant in St Clement were evacuated on Saturday evening, with those affected forced to spend the night with relatives, friends or at hotels before being allowed home the following morning.
Graeme Millar, who took on the role of chief executive for Islands Energy Group, parent company of Jersey supplier Island Energy, earlier this month, said: “First of all I’d like to apologise to all those who were disrupted – it’s not very nice to be asked to leave your house on a Saturday night just before Christmas.”
Mr Millar said the response to the reported leak had been “textbook”, with a concerned Islander having called Island Energy’s 24-hour emergency line – 755 555 – an engineer attending the scene and the evacuation being arranged in conjunction with the fire service while the leak was found and sealed off.
But he admitted that communication would be reviewed after complaints from some residents that they had been given little information about whether they would be allowed home until around 10pm on Saturday.
“It’s a fine balance – our initial priority was to make sure people were safe, and after that there was an initial hope they may be able to return home that night, but we will look at it and learn lessons for the future on the communication side,” he said.
Figures released by Island Energy showed it had responded to 548 call-outs so far this year, with 100 repairs being carried out, compared to 617 call-outs and 72 repairs in 2023. Mr Millar said £4 million had been spent on upgrading the network in the last three years, with half of this investment coming in the past 12 months.
He added that only around one in six calls turned out to be a gas leak, but that it was still the right thing for anyone concerned to call the emergency line rather than take chances.
Andium Homes, which owns Le Clos Mourant, said that while none of its clients used mains gas or gas appliances, it was working with Island Energy to remove redundant gas pipes from its land.
Chief policy and stakeholder engagement officer Carl Mavity said: “While we do not use gas in any of our properties, we want to make it clear to our clients and the public generally that if they do smell gas or suspect that there has been a gas escape at any time, they must immediately call Island Energy’s 24-hour emergency line on 755 555, or the emergency services.”
