City Power has fixed the power outage that left Ekklesia Park Retirement Village residents in Blairgowrie vulnerable for some time.
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The power issues at the village go back to the beginning of July when it was first logged with both ward councillor Lucinda Harman and Harold Fleishman, co-chairperson of the Blairgowrie Community Association.
Towards the end of July, it was reported that one of the three phases was running low and affecting electricity at the home. In mid-August a cable not earthed was reported with residents experiencing shocks while showering.
Fleishman explained that there was bad workmanship from City Power contractors and took several weeks and several visits.
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“The Village had no power. Their biggest concern was the oxygen machines that rely on the power that many of their residents need.”
Isaac Mangena, City Power spokesperson, explained that the outage was caused by a malfunctioning feeder cable that supplies power to Conrad Drive in Blairgowrie.
“An investigation was conducted after the query was logged and we discovered that a feeder cable fault was the cause of the outage. Technicians were immediately dispatched to the site to diagnose and address the fault in the feeder cable. The investigation confirmed that the cable was defective and required repairs.”
He added that the process of narrowing down the exact point of fault on an underground cable that often stretches for a distance, generally takes time. The team also required some specialized components that were not immediately available. However, on August 19, they managed to restore supply.
“The concern of electric shocks was also brought to our attention, and we urgently sent a team to investigate and address the challenge. We discovered that the shocks were also related to the faulty feeder cable. The team has also managed to successfully address that challenge.”
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