Businessmen have asked their representatives to sue Enemalta following a series of power cuts claimed to have caused thousands of liri in damage and lost trade.
No less than 35 complaints in writing have been submitted to the Chamber for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises - GRTU, with one internet café claiming damages amounting to nearly Lm7,300.
GRTU officials are considering the request to take court action. They also held a meeting with the Malta Resources Authority on Monday, which has promised to investigate the claims for compensation.
"The complaints are still pouring in and we ask all those who have sustained damages because of the power cuts to contact us," GRTU Hospitality Division president Philip Fenech said.
It has been a bad few days for Enemalta as multiple power cuts left thousands of Maltese people without fans or air conditioners and hundreds of businesses counting their losses.
The last major power outage, on Monday, left the Hamrun area without electricity for six hours.
A major power cut in Paceville last week seems to have left a trail of damage in its wake.
An internet café claimed that two air conditioning compressors, a router, computers and freezers were destroyed because of the power surge when electricity was restored.
A major Paceville nightclub is claiming damages of over Lm3,000 because of damage to the electrical equipment, while a home appliances complex claimed expenses amounting to over Lm4,000.
"We are not even taking into consideration the loss of sales during the power cuts," said Mr Fenech, who added that insurance companies were refusing to make good for the damage.
Suing Enemalta successfully is far from a foregone conclusion, because the operators would need to prove that the damage was caused through negligence.
However, Mr Fenech pointed out that unlike most other countries, energy here is provided by a monopolistic entity.
"After all the difficulties we're facing, private enterprise should not bear the brunt - especially when we're paying good money for the supply of electricity," he argued.
Enemalta yesterday apologised to residents in the areas of Hamrun, Gwardamangia, Pieta and Marsa, who were recently affected by three power failures.
The outages were caused by three separate faults on different parts of the system, the corporation explained.
Monday's power cut was caused when a fault occurred in the switchgear installed at the Hamrun Mile End substation.
This fault was localised and isolated. The supply to all the other substations was restored within one-and-a-half hours.
As a result of repairs to the switchgear inside this substation, power in the area connected to this substation was restored six hours after the fault occurred.
"Enemalta assures its customers, that this series of faults is unconnected and that it is taking all possible measures to restore the situation back to normal as soon as possible," the corporation said.