Miriam Dalli is facing her first big test.

She was appointed minister in November, along with Clyde Caruana, in what was seen as a move by Prime Minister Robert Abela to rejuvenate his team. Their appointments were further signs that Abela wanted to change Joseph Muscat’s squad and create more distance between his leadership and that of his predecessor.

But while Caruana was immediately thrown in at the deep end and had to contend with a myriad difficulties such as an economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the grey-listing of Malta by the Financial Analysis Task Force and a general sense of anxiety within a tourist industry that continues to struggle, Dalli had a much softer approach to her portfolio.

She had a much easier ride in the first months of her appointment.

Then summer came, and the power cuts started.

Well, some would use the verb “continued”, rather than started, given that the occurrence is not new.

We’ve been experiencing power cuts for years. There were times when it was Boiler Number 7 which failed; then it was the interconnector’s fault.

Today it’s the distribution network which is getting the blame.

So perhaps it’s better to qualify “started” with “more frequently”.  With rising temperatures and extended heat waves – anyone else thinks that it’s the hottest summer ever to hit Malta? – demand for electricity increased as people wanted to cool their offices and homes.

Pockets of areas went without power, some more than once, as the system struggled to cope with the needs. While enough electricity was being generated, the distribution system could not handle the strain.

That’s what we’ve been told.

Delayed reaction

Miriam Dalli took long to react.

Rather than being pro-active and immediately go to the public with an explanation, she opted to wait. There was no official statement from her ministry.

It was only when journalists approached her with questions about the power cuts – some of which lasted more than half a day – that she said that the situation is “unacceptable”. Well, we all knew that, given that being deprived of something that is no longer a luxury but a necessity does create so much disruption – to business and families.

What made the situation worse for the Labour government is that for many years it had criticised the previous Nationalist administrations about problems they had faced in the energy sector.

The Labour Party was elected in 2013 for many reasons, and one of them was the way it said it would “remove the cancer factory” which was generating energy and replace it with a less polluting source. But there was more to it than an apparent environmental concern.

Behind all the ideas to revolutionise the energy sector was a man named Konrad Mizzi, presented at the time as a new rising star for the PL.  We all know what happened since then. Suffice it to say that Mizzi is not even a Labour MP now. He has been kicked out of the party.

Dalli was still building her career at the time Labour was coming up with its bright ideas on energy, and was still to be elected as an MEP. But now that she is responsible for one of the most crucial sectors, she must take on the problems that were created before her by others and, hopefully, solve them.

Dalli’s “unacceptable” comment prompted Enemalta to hold a press conference to clarify what was going on. Again, it was a delayed reaction from the corporation. It should not have required the minister to say that an explanation was needed for Enemalta to provide one. Enemalta is responsible towards its consumers and, if they are unhappy with the service they are being given, then the corporation should be man enough to take responsibility.

Immediately, without prompting.

It must be remembered that apart from being inconvenient, a power cut could also be costly. Most households today have fridges and freezers, and a lengthy power cut could mean that items that are normally kept in cooler temperatures must be discarded – especially in a summer heat wave. Enemalta says that a compensation system is in place, but very few bother to go through the hassle.

Weak points

Dalli has asked Enemalta to identify the weak points in the network in order to carry out the necessary repairs or updating of the system to provide a more regular service.

Given the extent of the power cuts that have been experienced in the past weeks, there are problems (almost) everywhere. It is evident that, in the first years of the Joseph Muscat government, attention was given to the generation of electricity while the upgrading of the distribution network was not given the importance it required.

Enemalta must now make up for the lost time.

Its exercise to improve the network system therefore needs to be comprehensive, apart from being urgently required. Just as much as power is needed during the summer to generate cool air, it is needed in winter to generate warmth. And, after such a long, hot summer, there are some who are predicting a very cold winter by our standards.

What is worrisome is that the problems in the distribution network were identified at a time when the number of people on the island was lower than what it would normally be.

The tourism industry is still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. A few weeks ago, we had the Malta International Airport saying that the recovery in Malta is proceeding at a much slower pace than that in its southern European competitors.

While Malta recouped 39 per cent of July 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels, competitors did much better with 57 per cent.

So this means that in Malta the tourist numbers are much lower than what they would probably be without the Covid-19 pandemic.

The questions are therefore obvious: what would have happened to our power distribution if the tourist numbers were higher? Are we to thank the pandemic for fewer power issues this summer? And what is going to happen when the number of tourists rises again? Are we to have bigger problems with electricity?

Investment

Dalli said that €130 million have been invested in the distribution network in the past years.

Clearly, this is not enough.

This is why Enemalta must quickly identify the areas which need to be revisited and strengthened so as to come up with a plan – and start working on it immediately. The plan, according to what Dalli said a few days ago, is still to be finalised.

Whether it’s summer or winter, businesses and families need their electricity. And with tourism slowly picking up as the effects of the pandemic decrease, it is likely that there will be a larger number of people to cater for in the coming months and years. Unless the power distribution network is drastically improved, it is possible that power cuts will become even more frequent and more widespread.

It is pointless to generate enough electricity but then not being able to distribute it where it is needed. If the problem we are facing now is the distribution infrastructure, then this should be given priority over any other projects the government has in mind with regard to energy.

In further comments to the media, Dalli said that Enemalta is working on both short-term and long-term solutions to the power distribution network. “We are looking to address the vulnerabilities” in the system, and take action “as quickly as possible” when a problem is identified, she said.

“Quickly” is the most important word, as nobody likes to spend an extra minute without power on whatever day, but mostly so when an air-conditioner or fan is greatly needed.

(But then, neither is it easy to be an Enemalta technician in these times. On days when power cuts abound in different areas, they would be rushing from one place to another to find out what’s wrong and carry out repairs. So there should always be respect for what they are enduring too.)

Political barbs

As usually happens, the Nationalist Party and the Labour Party are blaming each other.

The PN is labelling this particular summer as one of “darkness”, going as far as having a front page on its Sunday newspaper dedicated to “the government of darkness” – a white on black headline covering the whole page.

“What was meant to be the PL’s roadmap,” the PN said, a clear reference to Labour’s pre-2013 election battle-cry, is turning out to be its downfall.

In reply, the Labour Party described the PN as 'blackout experts', arguing that it is not credible when it comes to the energy sector.

"It is an undisputed fact that energy provision interruptions are half of what they were during the last PN administration, and this is due to the government's investment in this sector," the PL said.

Pointing of fingers will not get us anywhere. Both the PN and the PL have to answer to their responsibilities in the energy sector, as the distribution network was not created in the last eight years.

But, right now, Labour is in power, and therefore it is the one under the spotlight.

This is why Dalli is facing her first big test.