Keeping the Lights on During a Pandemic 
As the coronavirus outbreak that started in China in December 2019 began to take on global proportions at the beginning of 2020, the FortisTCI Crisis Management Team sprang into early action, planning a response to what was a clear and present danger to the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI).

Before the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic on March 11, a multi-faceted pandemic response plan was being rolled out across FortisTCI’s service territories.

By then several steps had been taken internally to safeguard employee health and safety, including a ban on travel, sharing of ongoing public health information, extra sanitization of work areas and activation of various pandemic response policies and procedures.

Operational Changes and Customer Support
By March 25, FortisTCI closed its customer service centers and established mandatory work from home procedures. The company also announced a plan to support customers faced with hardships as a result of the pandemic. That included suspending disconnections for 30 days, waiving penalties for 60 days and delaying the 6.8% rate increase by three months. 

Today, FortisTCI continues to operate within the confines of the Governor’s emergency powers and by following guidelines set forth by the TCI Government and medical authorities.  

Essential employees who are critical to the delivery of electricity show up every day to ensure the energy needs of customers are met at the highest level. Some employees are sequestered on a rotating basis to meet business needs. 

A Message of Thanks and Hope
In his most recent message to the team at FortisTCI, President and CEO Eddinton Powell said, "I want to thank all our essential and critical workers on-site, on-call and on the front line, for the job they doing every day to deliver safe and reliable electricity to customers. I also want to thank those working from home. I am incredibly proud of the entire team. The sacrifices you are making, leaving your homes, and spending additional hours to complete urgent tasks, have not gone unnoticed."

Mr. Powell added, "Our jobs are more than just keeping the lights on - we keep the oxygen flowing in hospitals, the connections in place for students attending class online, and the grocery stores operating. Thank you for all you do."