Residents of St Lucia experienced an islandwide power outage last weekend, which the island’s utility provider has officially attributed to an unexpected source: a rodent.
The St Lucia Electricity Services Limited (LUCELEC) announced that the blackout was caused by an “unexpected fault” that occurred on an 11 kilovolt (11kV) breaker within the Cul-de-Sac electricity network. According to the company’s preliminary investigations, this fault was initiated by a rodent interfering with the 11kV breaker on May 1.
This animal interference immediately triggered the utility’s automatic protection systems. These systems are designed to prevent significant damage to the equipment, which ultimately resulted in the total shutdown of the island’s electricity grid. LUCELEC noted that while wildlife accidents are rare, they are a globally recognized risk for power systems, and the company employs multiple protective layers specifically to contain these types of faults.
Fortunately for residents, the blackout was relatively brief. Following system checks and inspections, power restoration began less than an hour later, with electricity progressively returning to customers across the island.
In the wake of the outage, LUCELEC has launched a detailed post-incident technical review as part of its standard operational procedures. This review will analyze the sequence of events, evaluate system performance, and assess existing mitigation measures to determine what actions are needed to strengthen the grid’s resilience and prevent a recurrence.
LUCELEC issued an apology to its customers for the inconvenience caused by the unplanned outage. The company reassured the public that it remains committed to delivering safe and reliable service, and will continue to invest in infrastructure and system protection for the people of St Lucia