Blaming the boiler not the politicians

Every time the lights go out unexpectedly and the country is plunged into darkness in another nationwide power cut, there is one thing you can be sure of.

This has nothing to do with the duration of the power outage. And it will be of cold comfort to the people scrabbling about in the dark, stubbing their toes against unseen pieces of furniture. Nevertheless, once the power supply is eventually returned, and things go back to normal, you can be sure that the cause of the national inconvenience will be identified.

Invariably it will be found to have nothing to do with the management of Enemalta or the ministers who have had the energy sector included as part of their portfolio. No - the blackouts are always caused by some external and unforeseen reason which is totally beyond the control of Enemalta. Or so the authorities would have us believe.

Let's look back at the power outages over the past year. In June 2009, a turbine tripped at the Marsa power station, igniting a safety mechanism that shut down the whole plant. Now it is not totally inconceivable that a rickety old power station may not be functioning efficiently. But before the final report about the power cut was out, the Prime Minister was already humming and hawing about his "surprise" at a series of coincidences surrounding the blackout. He seemed to be implying that dark forces were afoot, trying to disrupt the smooth running of the country under the Gonzi administration. Then, when we had to rummage about for the candles again, in November, the sabotage theory was mooted. Enemalta chairman Alex Tranter moved into conspiracy theory territory and said: "I understand that press reports have observed that this is not the first time we had a power cut because of a fault at the Marsa power station while Enemalta was being discussed on television or in Parliament."

Of course Enemalta later denied this was a pathetic attempt to hint at saboteurs who wrought their mischief when Enemalta was being discussed, to cause the maximum amount of damage to the corporation, but everybody understood the subtext.

Boiler number seven was blamed for the power cut before the last. The troublesome boiler acquired a personality of its own, distinct from the rest of the machinery at the power station. The way it was being referred to, it was as if Boiler No. 7 suddenly rebelled and shut itself down to spite Enemalta.

Feeling rather jealous of all the attention that Boiler No.7 was getting, Turbine number two decided to get in on the act, and on Good Friday it conked out. The official reason given for this was that demand for electrical energy on Friday was too much; so much so, that the turbine could not be synchronised in time to keep the system's frequency.

Naturally, the General Workers' Union had to get a bit of the flak, with the Enemalta report indicating that union directives could have lead to inefficient communication between the two power stations. Never mind the fact that there were engineers who were not union members working in the relevant sections.

The one common element running through these frequent power outages is that the authorities (for that read the Nationalist government and the Enemalta chairmen it appoints) are never to blame. It is always force majeure, or some external factor, which plunges us into darkness and forced idleness for long stretches at a time.

And although the usual PN propagandists keep on bleating about our increased energy demands being a reflection of our improved economic status and being able to afford all the modcons available, they refuse to acknowledge that much of the inconvenience we are having to put up with is entirely due to poor planning and a lack of investment in the energy sector.

Way back in 2006, Enemalta's Energy Generation Plan made it amply clear that we needed increased reserve capacity, as otherwise we would be having repeated power outages by 2010. What did the Prime Minister or Austin Gatt do with the report? Probably crumpled it into little paper balls and threw it at the Labour MPs. Isn't that the modus operandi of the current government? Senseless attacks and management by crisis?

Following decades of inaction, I am guessing that the next spin attempt will be to try to persuade the electorate that a plant which utilises highly polluting heavy fuel oil is the only possible energy option available to us.

And when we breathe in toxic air and pollutants, Boiler X or Turbine Y will be blamed, not the inept politicians who ordered them.

cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt