Castries, Saint Lucia, July 27th, 2022 – The Caribbean Electric Utility Services Association (CARILEC) has launched a dedicated webpage for its CARILEC Disaster Assistance Program (CDAP). This program consists of twenty-seven (27) CARILEC member utilities which have combined their financial and technical resources, to be managed by the CARILEC Secretariat, and to be allocated towards utility-driven disaster relief efforts after a catastrophe. The CDAP Webpage is an online forum which provides useful information on the services provided by CDAP, the member utilities which are CDAP Participants, regional weather monitoring, and a members-only area where Participants can digitally access various resources. The newly launched webpage is expected to increase value for CDAP Participants by providing them with easy access to program materials, timely weather updates and advisories, and the latest disaster related news in one space, designed to cater to their needs.
CDAP was formed in 1998 to facilitate cooperation among CARILEC member utilities to better manage the damage caused by hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and earthquakes within the Caribbean region. The program’s primary objective is to provide joint manpower and/or technical assistance to a utility which has suffered damage because of a disaster. Electric utilities often experience extensive damage to their transmission and distribution (T&D) systems and are consequently faced with high restoration costs after a hurricane. Therefore, CDAP functions through a two (2) fold system: member utilities make an annual contribution to the CDAP fund, and the CARILEC Secretariat manages the usage of the fund to coordinate regional efforts to respond to requests for assistance from disaster-stricken Member Utilities. Some of the activities undertaken by the Secretariat under this programme include the deployment of engineers to undertake damage assessments and line crews to carry out T&D line restoration work.
More recently, CDAP has provided manpower assistance to Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands in 2017, post Hurricane Irma; Dominica in 2017, post Hurricane Maria; Bahamas in 2019, post Hurricane Dorian; and technical assistance as part of the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) led Damage Assessment Team deployed to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 2021, following La Soufriere Volcanic Eruption.
Speaking on the recent launch of the CDAP Webpage, CARILEC’s Disaster Management Coordinator, Ms. Karen Piper expressed CARILEC’s main objective in creating this online platform, “CARILEC aims to consistently increase value and satisfaction for its members, and this includes its CDAP Participants. While CDAP is mainly focused on power restoration post disaster, there are several logistical arrangements being managed by the Secretariat and the affected and assisting utilities to ensure that assistance is delivered most expeditiously. Therefore, the CDAP Webpage provides a central forum whereby Participants can access various resources to ascertain the seamless planning and execution of the deployment process. The platform also serves as a reservoir of important disaster related information, thereby ensuring that CDAP Participants and other relevant stakeholders in the disaster management process are kept reliably informed, especially during the annual hurricane season.”
The CDAP Webpage can be accessed via https://cdap.carilec.org/. CDAP Participants can login to the resources section or register to create an account.
-END-
For further information, contact:
Karen C. Piper
Assistant Manager, Communications & Disaster Management
Mobile Phone : +1 (758) 728 9212
Email : [email protected]
About CARILEC :
The Caribbean Electric Utility Service Corporation (CARILEC) is an association of energy solution providers and other stakeholders operating in the electricity industry in the Caribbean. CARILEC was established in 1989 with nine (9) members as part of an electric Utilities modernization project funded by USAID and implemented by NRECA under a five-year “Co-operative Agreement.” Currently, CARILEC comprises over one hundred members. This includes thirty-three (33) Full Members that are electric Utilities, and over eighty (80) Independent Power Producers (IPPs), Associate and Affiliate Members that are companies involved in some aspect of servicing the electric Utility business.
