The Government said it is very concerned about a power supply incident that occurred in some areas on Hong Kong Island at around 0.45am today, and has asked Hongkong Electric Company (HEC) to identify the cause of the incident.

At around 1.27am, the Electrical & Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) received the incident report from HEC in accordance with the established mechanism. It has been closely following up with the company on the incident’s development, and monitoring the repair work’s progress.

Apart from requesting to have the incident's cause identified, the EMSD is calling on HEC to submit a detailed report within four weeks. It will continue to closely follow up with HEC and urge the company to take appropriate improvement measures.

In accordance with the Scheme of Control Agreements (SCAs), the Government conducts an annual auditing review of the power companies, with an incentive and penalty mechanism established.

Conducted with the power companies, the annual review covers the companies’ technical, environmental and financial performance, including customer performance.

The authorities will follow up in the auditing review of the year and examine whether this power supply incident will trigger the relevant incentive and penalty mechanism, which is calculated on the basis of annual settlement.

Moreover, the Environment & Ecology Bureau will conduct an interim review on the SCAs with the two power companies this year.

The bureau will take into account the public’s views, the two power companies’ performance in the past few years as well as the latest economic environment, and propose modifications to the SCAs concerning the two power companies.

The modifications may include proposals on the incentive and penalty mechanism, such as the need to consider the circumstances of each incident, rather than simply calculating the time for power outage or power restoration, with a view to better safeguarding public interest.