CASTRIES, St Lucia (CMC) — The St Lucia Electricity Services Limited (LUCELEC) says the islandwide blackout over the last weekend was due to an “unexpected fault” that occurred on an 11 kilovolt (11kV) breaker within its Cul-de-Sac electricity network.

“The fault triggered the automatic protection systems designed to prevent significant equipment damage resulting in the total shutdown of the electricity system,” LUCELEC said in a statement, adding that “preliminary investigations have since confirmed that the fault was initiated by rodent interference with the 11 kV breaker” on May 1.

The company said that while such “wildlife accidents are rare and are well recognised risks in power systems globally, LUCELEC employs multiple layers of protection specifically to contain faults of this nature and prevent potential damage to the wider system”.

It said that following inspections and system checks, power restoration commenced less than an hour later with electricity supply being progressively returned to customers across the island.

“LUCELEC has initiated a detailed post-incident technical review as part of its standard operational process. This review will assess the sequence of events, system performance and existing mitigation measures to ensure they operated as expected. Its results will guide any further actions required to strengthen resilience and reduce the likelihood of recurrence.”

LUCELEC, in apologising to its customers, said it remains “committed to delivering a safe, reliable and resilient electricity service and will continue investing in infrastructure, system protection and operational improvements in service to the people of St Lucia”.