Another major blackout. Another summer of power cuts. Another set of explanations from a government that, three years after promising to address the problem, still appears incapable of ensuring that Malta's electricity grid can cope with demand.

At some point, the excuses have to stop.

Gozo's major electricity blackout this weekend is the latest episode in a summer that has again exposed the weaknesses of Malta's electricity infrastructure. Households have been inconvenienced, businesses disrupted and thousands of people left wondering when the electricity will come back on.

This is not normal. And it should not be accepted as normal.

The government has had ample warning that demand is increasing. Malta's population has grown rapidly. Construction and development have continued at an extraordinary pace. Summers are becoming hotter, making air-conditioning increasingly essential rather than a luxury. The electrification of transport and other activities will place further demands on the system.

None of this came as a surprise.

Three years ago, after Malta experienced a summer of serious power cuts, the government promised that lessons had been learned and that investment would be made to strengthen the grid. Yet three years later, we are again experiencing widespread outages.

So what exactly was done?

Clearly, it was not enough.

Enemalta has lagged behind in planning and upgrading the infrastructure needed to match the country's changing requirements. The government cannot continue pretending that every breakdown is an unfortunate technical incident. When the same fundamental problem keeps appearing, it is a planning failure.

And planning failures are political failures.

Miriam Dalli, as the minister responsible for the sector, has every reason to face political pressure, including calls for her resignation. But this cannot be reduced to the question of whether one minister should remain in office. The buck ultimately stops with Robert Abela.

The Prime Minister cannot claim credit when things go well and then disappear when the lights go out.

That is precisely what has happened this summer. Social media has been flooded with complaints from frustrated residents. The Gozo blackout generated another wave of anger, while Dalli herself was criticised for what many saw as a formulaic, cut-and-paste response to the crisis.

People are not looking for carefully worded social media posts. They want electricity.

They want to know that the government has anticipated the country's needs and invested sufficiently in the infrastructure on which homes and businesses depend. They want competence, not excuses.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this crisis is how little political outrage it has generated beyond social media and the usual statements by political parties.

Electricity is not a luxury. It is a basic requirement of a modern economy. Businesses cannot operate normally when they cannot rely on a stable electricity supply. Families should not have to plan their lives around whether the grid will survive another heatwave.

And yet the Prime Minister has been conspicuously absent from this debate.

As Robert Abela prepares to celebrate the first 100 days of his new government, he should be asked a very simple question: where is the plan to ensure that this does not happen again?

He should not use the occasion merely to celebrate achievements. He should have the courage to acknowledge where his government has failed.

And then he should tell the country what will be done.

The next nine months are critical. There is time before next summer, but there is no time to waste. Enemalta must accelerate the upgrading of the grid, identify its weaknesses and invest in the capacity required for a Malta whose population and electricity consumption are both increasing.

This is not about producing another set of promises.

We have heard those already.

It is about delivery.

Robert Abela has spent much of his political career asking Maltese voters to trust his government. On the electricity crisis, that trust is being tested.

The lights are going out. The government has run out of excuses.

And the Prime Minister has nowhere to hide.