Guernsey Energy offers safety assurances

Thursday 15 December 2022

The company under the spotlight following the Pier Road explosion in Jersey which has left eight people confirmed dead with another missing, has said it can reassure customers in Guernsey that "the network is safe and gas supply secure",

Guernsey Energy is a trading name of Guernsey Gas Ltd, and is a member of the Islands Energy Group.

Islands Energy supplies gas to Jersey and the Isle of Man as well as Guernsey.

Following the explosion in the early hours of Saturday morning, the CEO of Islands Energy has given statements and assured customers and members of the public that the company is complying with all aspects of the investigation.

Speaking to the media outside of Islands Energy Group's headquarters at La Collette in Jersey on Monday afternoon, Jo Cox said that there were no issues with the mains gas network and the area was safe.

“We want to join everyone in Jersey in sending our thoughts and prayers to the families who have lost families during this tragic time. Islands Energy continues to work with the emergency services during this recovery period," she said.

Pictured: Seven of the victims of the Pier Road explosion. Two more have since been identified too. Eight are confirmed to have died with one resident still missing.

“I want to reassure people that we believe this is an isolated incident and not an issue with our gas network. 

“We will work with the emergency services and the various channels to ensure we are providing the data needed to understand exactly what happened during this incident.”

Asked if she thought IEG’s gas infrastructure had a role in the explosion, she explained that the Haut du Mont flats which were destroyed in the blast were not on the gas main.

"The buildings were not running on gas," she said. "There was a mains network running past it but [gas] was not being used for heating. There is no damage to the mains network.”

Asked where gas may have come from, she said: “It is really difficult for me to comment on that because we are running a very clear investigation at this time. I don’t want to make assumptions because I don’t want to make people think that something has happened when it hasn’t. Please let us run our investigations - we will get to the facts.

“The mains has not been affected. The mains is also turned off. We have assessed the area three days in a row and there is no gas detected at all. It is 100% safe. We need to run through the investigations to understand where the explosion initiated. There is an assumption that it may be gas - we don’t know that for a fact.”

Video: Islands Energy Group, Jo Cox, making a statement on Monday afternoon.

Mrs Cox did confirm that IEG had been working at the site beforehand.

“There was work leading up to the event but, as I reassure you, there were no meters in the property. It was not run on heating, so we really need to understand clearly what could have caused it. It was recent work but they were disconnected meters.”

Mrs Cox also confirmed that IEG engineers were also called out on Friday night, when the Fire Service were contacted by residents after they smelled gas.

“It is standard procedure that we get called by the Fire and Rescue Service - we attended on site with them. I am looking at all the recordings and exactly what happened at that time. Again, it is inappropriate for me to comment at this time.

“We received recordings into the call centre from Fire and Rescue reporting that it had been reported to us. We always attend - it is standard protocol if there is a gas escape reported that we always attend with Fire and Rescue.”

Pictured: Many consumers will have gas connections in their home for cooking or heating.

In a statement issued to customers in Guernsey, Guernsey Energy has repeated the assurances of safety which Ms Cox has already made.

It also encouraged customers to be aware of the emergency procedures in case they are needed.

"We are deeply saddened by the events that have occurred in Jersey and our thoughts are with the families of those who have lost their lives and who have been affected. The cause of the tragic incident is yet to be determined, and investigations are ongoing. 

"We would like to reassure our customers and the wider public that our network is safe: we have rigorous and robust procedures in place to ensure we operate in accordance with industry standards. Our engineering teams operate 24 hours a day to ensure we provide a safe and secure supply of gas for everyone.

"If you smell gas, or think you smell gas, please call the gas emergency number 24 hours a day on 01481 749000 and one of our engineers will attend within the hour to investigate."

In this podcast, the Bailiwick Express News Team takes a look at what we know so far...