Electricity supplier Belco should pay compensation to customers who went without power for an extended period if the company was culpable, a former MP has declared.

Rolfe Commissiong spoke out this week several days after Hurricane Ernesto brought strong winds and driving rain across the island.

The weather system downed utility cables, causing widespread blackouts, although power was restored to the majority of properties by Monday.

Mr Commissiong claimed that some residents in his Warwick neighbourhood went without power for at least five days, and were forced to throw out food as a result.

Speaking after power had been restored to his home on Tuesday, Mr Commissiong said: “As of this afternoon, more than 1,700 customers were still without power.

“We had at least 700 to 800 Belco customers — primarily residential properties — without electricity in the area of west Paget and east Warwick.”

Mr Commissiong said it could mean more than 2,000 people left in the dark over an outage spanning five days from the onset of strong winds last Friday afternoon.

According to a Belco post on social media, as of 4pm yesterday, 209 customers who lost power as a result of Ernesto were still without electricity.

Mr Commissiong said: “In my neighbourhood, people were forced to start throwing out foodstuffs because they were beginning to spoil after several days without refrigeration.

“In some cases that could result in them throwing out several hundred dollars worth of groceries.

“When you consider the ruinous cost of groceries in Bermuda, that is something that many — particularly seniors and people on fixed incomes — can ill afford.

“So many people are struggling just to put food on the table. They can’t afford to throw it away.”

Mr Commissiong also suggested that the Government could set up an emergency fund to help those on low incomes who have suffered financial loss as a result of hurricane activity.

He asked: “Is the Government going to step up? Is Belco going to step up?

“The question I have is, why has it taken so long to get certain pockets back to power?

“I appreciate that hurricanes are an act of God that we just have to accept. But what happened after the first 48 hours? Could Belco have done more? Do they have issues with their infrastructure?

“If so, then extended periods without power become an act of man.

“If Belco is culpable in any way, then it really should think about paying compensation to some of its customers. And of course logistically, that would be a simple thing to do because they know exactly who those customers are.

“They can see who’s without power and they’ll know which customers went without power for five days or more.”

Mr Commissiong said that the island had a narrow escape, with Ernesto causing only minor damage, which made him question why some homes remained without electricity several days later.

He said: “The damage was fairly minimal and we were very lucky because, although it was a large storm, it was also a weak one.

“Had it been a Category 4 or even a Category 5, it would have caused complete havoc.”

Mr Commissiong said that Ernesto made him question the island’s spirit of community and camaraderie.

He said: “We live in these residential silos and it seems to me that fewer people know their neighbours. When we get these sorts of natural disaster, we have to ask if we are still our brother’s keeper.

“Are those with generators reaching out to neighbours, even if it’s just to power up their phone? Is someone checking on that elderly neighbour who lives on her own?

“These are things that serve as a great reminder of how much we have lost in Bermuda and how much we need to regain.”

Yesterday Belco said that while 28,817 customers had lost power as a result of Ernesto, that figure was reduced to 2,000 within 48 hours because of the hard work of Belco crews.

Shelly Leman, Belco’s managing director, said: “We appreciate the patience of our customers who experienced extended power outages lasting several days.

“While we were prepared for the storm, there was extensive damage in some parts of the island and our crews are working as quickly and as safely as possible to restore power to our customers.

“I would also like to take the opportunity to thank our teams who have been working long hours and continue to be away from their families through this process. Our work will not stop until every last customer is restored.”

A Belco spokesman said that in the aftermath of a hurricane, teams must assess damage on the network and ensure that substation supplies are on before they can begin the restoration process.

“Power is then restored according to a specific plan,” the spokesman said. “Mainline circuits must be repaired and restored first so that branch lines can then be repaired and energised in order for power to be restored to homes.

“If a customer has lost power, the main and branch lines must be repaired and energised before damage to a specific household can be fixed or else there will be no power feeding into the lines that supply that home.

“Hurricane Ernesto impacted 51 main lines that required repair work. An example of the mainline repair work required was seen on Somerset Road near the junction with Sound View Road, where the top of a pole snapped, and a section of power line was dangling into the main road.

“This repair required a minimum of two overhead crews and took several hours working into darkness to replace the pole, reattach power lines and a transformer, before restoring power to customers.”

The spokesman said that crews have also had to contend with pole fires and other emergencies during the restoration effort, with some repairs taking hours because crews had to cut back trees and replace damaged poles and transformers.

“Customers are reminded again that the most important action residents can take to prepare for storms is to ensure that trees on their property are clear of power lines,” the spokesman added.

“Ensuring that vegetation on private property remains ten feet away from power lines is the sole responsibility of property owners.”

• Property owners can call 295-5111 or e-mail treetrimming@belco.bm three weeks in advance to schedule a power shutdown to enable safe trimming