The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

WORKS and Utilities Minister Alfred Sears said Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) is sending engines to Abaco to improve the island’s electricity generation capacity after bad weather affected the company’s distribution lines, causing recent outages.

His comment came after Central and South Abaco MP John Pinder lashed out at BPL in the House of Assembly on Monday, calling the frequent power outages a “disgrace”.

Mr Pinder said power has been on “less than 30 per cent of the time” in the last week.

Yesterday, Mr Sears said many legacy issues facing BPL won’t be solved overnight.

He said recent outages in Abaco, Acklins and Mayaguana prove that the government cannot do the “same old” thing, adding: “We have to use the God-given sunlight that we have and convert that into electricity so that we have more sustainable power generation.”

 “In Abaco, I’m advised that there was a weather incident which affected the distribution lines as well as the generational capacity in Abaco,” he added. “Also similarly, we had a situation in Acklins and also in Mayaguana.

“What they have done with respect to Abaco, they’re sending additional engines. In Acklins, we’re sending in Salina Point a 300-kilowatt engine. In Crooked Island, a 500-kilowatt engine so that there could be more resilience.”

 Asked about Mr Pinder’s calls for BPL’s management to be decentralised, Mr Sears said the power provider was designing a business plan to make the corporation more “nimble”.

 “Nimble within the context of an archipelago clearly involves evolution so that the people on the ground have the opportunity to innovate, the opportunity to address the matters which may arise in a much more quick and efficient manner,” he said. “So, it’s not just a question of evolution. It’s a total strategic overhaul of BPL and also of the Water and Sewerage Corporation.”

 He said the government is constructing two 10MW solar utility-scale facilities to address power generation issues.

 “This facility, along with a number of power purchase agreements with private solar providers, will enable BPL to be more resilient,” Mr Sears said, “but what I’m also asking is that all of us in our country, we understand what’s happening in the world in terms of the global supply chain of energy that we conserve.”

 “As BPL is pivoting, we have to conserve in terms of our consumption of our energy, utilising LED light fixtures.”