Sabah Electricity CEO Yaakob Jaafar said the supply disruption occurred in the final phase of transferring conductors from a temporary tower to a newly completed permanent tower of the emergency restoration system.

“At the time of the incident, only line number 1 was affected, supplying 138 megawatts of electricity to eastern Sabah,” he said in a statement.

Investigations on the cause of the power trip are being carried out. The technical team will continue work tomorrow because bad weather and heavy rain are blocking the access route, he said.

Electricity supply to Sandakan, Lahad Datu, Kunak, Semporna and Tawau was fully restored at 5.24pm today.

Yaakob said since March Sabah Electricity has been carrying out the replacement of two 275kV towers on the Kolopis-Segaliud transmission line in Ranau that were rendered unstable due to soil movement.