PHILIPSBURG-- An issue with a 440-volt alternating current (AC) system which supplies power to the units at water and light company GEBE resulted in a country-wide power outage on Monday.
GEBE said in a press statement that at 2:57pm, its power plant encountered the problem with the AC system. As a result of this, the production units in building #4 encountered problems that led to an imbalance in frequency, which resulted in the countrywide blackout.
Power plant technicians sprang into action, immediately assessing the problem, after which the Belair Cable which supplies power to St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) was re-energised at 3:42pm. By 4:07pm power had been restored to 75 per cent of the country.
GEBE apologised for the inconvenience the outage may have caused and thanked consumers for their patience as it worked on fully restoring power.
