The extended drought and seasonal dry weather conditions have been causing excessive dust build-up on BEL’s power lines across the country, resulting in numerous electrical faults and sudden disruptions of electricity service to our customers. Frequent outages have also been occurring in various parts of the country due to bush fires which damage the base of the pole structures of our transmission and distribution lines. In most cases, the time required to replace the pole structures damaged by such faults and fires can last anywhere from 2 to 8 hours.
BEL has intensified its countrywide system maintenance program to mitigate recurring and unplanned power outages by:
§ Changing out insulators on structures that are more susceptible to dust build-up.
§ Washing insulators to manage dust build-up on equipment and structures.
§ Clearing vegetation near poles to create a gap that reduces the spread wildfires.
The majority of these planned works will require a scheduled outage of 6 to 8 hours that will affect service areas in the Corozal, Orange Walk and Cayo Districts, which are the districts with the highest frequency of these types of outages. Customers will be notified in advance of the scheduled outage for each service area.
BEL asks the public to maintain a safe distance from our worksites and workmen and to report any bush fire near BEL’s power lines. Reports can be made by calling 0.800.BEL.CARE (0.800.235.2273) toll free or sending a Facebook message. Let us continue to work together to keep the lights on for Belize.
