See Terms of Reference of ‘Blackout’ Committee

By Prior Beharry

MEMBERS of the team appointed to investigate the island-wide blackout on February 16 have received their letters of appointment and terms of reference.

A release from the Office of the Prime Minister stated that they were presented with the documents by acting Prime Minister Colm Imbert on Tuesday.

The committee is chaired by retired Professor of Electrical Engineering Chandrabhan Sharma and includes former chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission Keith Sirju and acting Superintendent Allister Guevarro.

They are to submit their report by March 22.

The terms of reference of the Committee include:

1. Investigation of the incident that occurred on February 16, 2022, that led to an island-wide electrical power outage in Trinidad, including, inter alia, the following: –
   1. Investigation of the circumstances that caused fault(s) to develop on T&TEC’s lines at Gandhi Village/Union Estate and any other location;
   2. Investigation of how these fault(s) resulted/contributed to a loss of generating capacity at the Trinidad Generating Unlimited (TGU) power plant and knock-on effect at other Independent Power Producer (IPP) power plants;
   3. Determination of what, if any, measures could have been taken to mitigate the impact of these fault(s) on TGU’s generating capacity;
   4. Determination of what, if any, measures could have been taken to mitigate the loss of TGU’s generating capacity and the loss of generating capacity at the other IPP’s; and
   5. Examination of the methodology and approach utilised by TGU and all other IPP’s in re-establishing electrical power supply on the island following the complete loss of generating capacity.

2. Investigation of the current design/configuration/installation of T&TEC’s electrical transmission and distribution system to determine whether there are systemic design/installation features which make it vulnerable to a repeat of a similar event, whether by accident, natural or man-made causes.
3. Examination of the effectiveness and appropriateness of the communication by T&TEC, ODPM and any other state agency responsible for communication in the situation, on the nature of the problem and on the progress being made to restore electrical power to the national population
4. Examination of the national security response to the event of February 16, 2022 to determine the following: –
   1. The country’s state of preparedness in response to the incident that occurred; and
   2. The country’s vulnerability to a repeat occurrence, given the current design/configuration/installation of T&TEC’s electrical transmission and distribution system and the current capability of the IPP’s to respond quickly and efficiently in a similar situation in the future.
   3. The nature of the response by the protective services, national security agencies and other relevant agencies, such as the Office for Disaster Preparedness and Management, to the power outage

Upon completion of their investigation, the Committee is to make observations, findings and conclusions, as well as recommendations to avoid a recurrence of a nationwide power outage and report to the Office of the Prime Minister within one month of the Committee’s date of appointment by March 22, 2022.

It should be noted that the Committee may co-opt any other expertise and resources that it requires.