MORE than three weeks after the gas supply was cut off, a number of Islanders are still being forced to take cold showers and air-frying all their meals as they wait for an engineer’s visit.
Liza Kennedy, a St Clement parishioner, said her block of flats had still not been reconnected – despite having contacted Island Energy several times, and even waiting at home on Saturday afternoon for a promised engineer’s visit.
“At first, it was fine. It was warm, believe it or not,” she said. “Now, it’s freezing. Having a cold shower in the morning – it’s just frustrating.”
She added that she had an air fryer and had gone out to eat, adding: “You can’t do everything with an air fryer.”
She added that her frustration was compounded by her attempts to call Island Energy, fitting in the calls with her job, adding: “They just seem so blasé about it.
“They said: ‘That shouldn’t happen. We’ll put it through. We’ll email the engineer and we’ll send someone out to you.’”
Speaking to the JEP on Tuesday, she added that she was expecting an engineer later in the day – but that it would be “a miracle” if they showed up.
Most customers were able to get their gas back a week after the outage started. Some were able to turn on their own supply, while Island Energy required an engineer to visit others to help turn the system back on. Miss Kennedy’s home is in the latter group.
On Saturday, Miss Kennedy stayed at home, as she had been promised an engineer, who she said had not shown up.
She added that she was hoping for compensation. “This is ridiculous,” she said.
The compensation plans for Island Energy customers are still being finalised by the utility company.
Island Energy said two weeks ago that they would be giving automatic compensation to all domestic customers, but commercial customers would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
A spokesperson for Island Energy said this week there were no updates on details of the proposed compensation scheme, as it was still being planned. Customers who are still without gas should complete an online form at islandenergy.je/engineer-gas-restore-form or call 01534 755500, they added.
