Power outage hits Kuching, Sri Aman and Miri

Sarawak Energy Group chief operating officer Lu Yew Hung said the Kuching and Sri Aman power outage was because one of the Kemena-Bintulu transmission lines tripped at 12.45 pm but an automatic defence system to prevent longer power outage had been put in place.

"It minimises the impact outage in Kuching and Sri Aman, lessening disruption time and maintaining critical facilities such as the airport and hospital," he said in a statement here today.

He said the power was fully restored for Kuching and Sri Aman at 3.10 pm.

"We deeply regret the inconvenience experienced by our customers due to these outage," he said adding that until the completion of the 500-kv second transmission line, the risk of major outages involving Sarawak Energy Berhad transmission lines remained.

He said, once completed, the 500-kv transmission line would strengthen reliability of electrical supply in the central and western part of Sarawak.

As for Miri City in northern Sarawak, he said, a double tripping occurred at 4.12pm along the Similajau-Tudan transmission line affecting that area for a short time as the power was full restored by late afternoon.

"Sarawak Energy was able to improve recovery times in these incidents due to system modification following recommendation from an international consultant," he added.

Meanwhile a check by Bernama revealed the power outage in Miri City has affected many private residential and commercial premises this afternoon with many complaining of sweltering heat due to the hot weather.

It also affected the traffic lights operation at Lutong and Piasau here, among the busiest areas in the city, which caused massive traffic jam due to the non-functioning traffic lights to assist the motorists during the rush hours.