BEC Chairman Leslie Miller
By SANCHESKA BROWN
Tribune Staff Reporter
sbrown@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMAS Electricity Corporation (BEC) Executive Chairman Leslie Miller yesterday said Monday’s blackout is not evidence that the company is unable to meet the demand for electricity in New Providence.
He added that the causes for the blackout are still under investigation. As he briefed the media on BEC’s investigation into the problems, he outlined the corporation’s dire financial straits.
He revealed that BEC is owed more than $185m in outstanding electricity payments with the government’s debt to the corporation amounting to more than $30m.
Mr Miller added that the average Bahamian household owes BEC around $5,000 and the average hotel owes between $3m to $15m. He said the cash-strapped corporation is faced with rising debt but needs payment from its customers in order to meet its obligations.
The Tall Pines MP outlined the corporation’s financial struggles at a press conference at BEC’s headquarters yesterday.
Mr Miller said more than 5,000 people in New Providence are without electricity but he said because of BEC’s rising debt the corporation is asking its customers to pay “anything” on their outstanding bills.
“The average Bahamian in New Providence owes BEC in excess of $5,000,” he said. “I know you find that difficult to believe. I find it difficult to believe but it is true, believe it or not. I don’t know how that happened, I think it is all of our fault. Over the years it has just been an accumulation of persons with very small bills that for whatever reason they couldn’t pay those bills and now those small bills are now big bills that are beyond their reach,” he said.
“We still have 5,000 customers that are off in New Providence and we have to get those people on. But because of the situation the corporation finds itself in now, we are asking our customers to assist us by trying to pay what ever they can pay to enable us not to disrupt their services.
“We find ourselves in a precarious situation, where we need to generate $40m this month to defray our fuel costs. Our accounts receivable is $185m, with government owing us in excess of $30m. So we need everyone to do the best you can with trying to get your bills up to date, including myself, the chairman and everyone else in this country. We are all in this boat together.”
Mr Miller said the corporation has tried to go after hotels who owe them millions but it is difficult when they say “if we pay you, we will have to fire some people.”
He said: “The average hotel owes anywhere from $3m to $15m and in the Family Islands we have hotels owing us in excess of $2m. It is an accumulation. We have these hotels in Abaco and Bimini that have these massive bills and when there is a slow down in the economy they don’t have the money to pay and the guy says to us ‘If you want me to pay it, if you put a gun to my head to pay the bill, then we have to lay off some people’ because that is what you do when things are tough, you lay off staff. So we work with them to avoid all of that.”
Mr Miller said 90 per cent of the people who he tries to assist with turning their lights back on are single mothers.
He said despite critics saying he is the reason BEC can not make any money, he “does not have the heart to tell crying women, I can’t help you, go to hell.”
Mr Miller also said BEC is still investigating exactly what caused Monday’s outage that left 50 per cent of New Providence without electricity for nearly eight hours. However, he said it had nothing to do with the corporation being unable to meet the demand for electricity.
“We know that at 7.30am, there was a fault on our network that caused the engines at Blue Hills to trip offline resulting in disruptions to the electricity supply to approximately 50 per cent of BEC’s customer base in New Providence and on Paradise Island,” Mr Miller said.
“Efforts were made to restore supply to those affected customers within minutes of the outage, however, shortly after 11am there were further challenges with one of the larger units at Blue Hills, GT5, that caused another shutdown and loss of electricity supply.
“In the effort to return the units at Blue Hills to service, there were a number of unforeseen challenges throughout the day that prolonged the outages experienced by some of BEC’s customers. Primarily, (engines) GT5, TA11 and GT9 were out of service for most of Monday.
“The end result was that there was insufficient capacity to meet demand on Monday evening. During the evening and night, customers across the island would have experienced periods of supply disruption. At midnight, TA11 and GT9 were both returned to service thus giving us enough capacity to meet our demand and restoring electricity supply to all impacted customers.”
Mr Miller said repairs to GT5 are ongoing and the engine is expected to return to service as soon as possible. When that is returned online, he said, BEC will have approximately 260 MW of capacity available which exceeds even its peak summer demand of 221.5 MW.
Comments
DillyTree 10 years, 3 months ago
Yes, please, everyone pay your BEC bill. And it's so nice when even the boss says he's behind on his bill too, so that everyone feels okay about being late with their bills. Where does the BS end with this crowd?
On another note, when will BEC offer customers credit for power outages and replacement costs for burned out applieances because of surges and brown-outs? Guess that's not happening anytime soon.
MartGM 10 years, 3 months ago
They actually do offer reimbursements for appliances damaged as a result of their power outages. I received money for a damaged AC unit, 2 tvs, and a computer. It takes patience though. You won't receive the total value but they will give you a substantial percentage.
proudloudandfnm 10 years, 3 months ago
What a piece of garbage. Everyone has to pay but him right? Man I am so tired of this party of criminals.....
B_I_D___ 10 years, 3 months ago
I this case I am glad to be NOT average...I owe BEC NOTHING...WSC...NOTHING...BTC...NOTHING...RPT...NOTHING (but that one will change...not paying RPT anymore). That $5,000 average is so skewed it is taken out of context...when you have one single consumer owing hundreds of thousands, versus the guy owing a couple hundred bucks...sadly, the guy owing a couple hundred bux is cut off, the guy owing hundreds of thousands is still sitting pretty.
Required 10 years, 3 months ago
According to the 2010 census, there are 70,222 households on New Providence. If the average NP household owed, as Miller states, $5,000, then the receivables from residential accounts alone would amount to around $351 million - not $185 million. Clearly the BEC chairman does not know what he's talking. And this is reason #47896052436 why it's time for him to resign immediately.
JohnDoe 10 years, 3 months ago
Read the article again!
B_I_D___ 10 years, 3 months ago
"So we need everyone to do the best you can with trying to get your bills up to date, including myself, the chairman and everyone else in this country. We are all in this boat together.”
Emac 10 years, 3 months ago
"trying to get your bills up to date, including myself, the chairman" If someone is trying to get his or her bill up to date then it is obviously in arrears general.
realfreethinker 10 years, 3 months ago
BID you cant read aye. The man admit he aint straight with bec.
B_I_D___ 10 years, 3 months ago
I can read...I read that sentence as him saying he himself needs to get his bills up to date...in other words, he is in arrears...I think the crazy general has a differing opinion though...
BSObserver 10 years, 3 months ago
Really?
"So we need everyone to do the best you can with trying to get your bills up to date, including myself, the chairman and everyone else in this country. We are all in this boat together.”
TalRussell 10 years, 3 months ago
Do as I say, not as i do. BEC's Comrade Chairman is a PM Christie appointee who not only describes himself as having personality blood ties to a Pot cake but wakes up every morning and while putting on his suit jacket, does checks the pockets for magnets and a big pot spoon - the tools required to make damn sure he is well equipped before leaving home - for stirring up and attracting the day's negative controversy his way. I swear Jesus, Comrade Leslie must have hired a personal staff team to search-out hot spots for anything controversial to bring to his attention for stirring-up in his slow cooker pot he has at BEC? .You go figure, if what I'm saying ain't so, then why in the hell would the BEC Chairman be turning the spotlight inward at his own lights bill paying problems, with the very lights corporation he is the Chairman of?
realfreethinker 10 years, 3 months ago
because he does not have to be held accountable for his actions. He boss them scared of him
Honestman 10 years, 3 months ago
Clearly arithmetic is not Miller's strong point. There is NO WAY the "average Bahamian" is owing BEC $5,000. The guy needs to stand down - what a ridiculous statement. If I miss paying my $400 bill just for one quarter I would be disconnected (happened to me once before due to an oversight on my part). So how can an average household be owing $5,000??? Does the man think we are as stupid as him? I even have difficulty believing the average amount owed could be as high as $5,000 but it is possible because of the huge amounts owed by some, including Miller himself!! It is an absolute scandal that so many customers have been allowed to build up such large arrears. Just another example of Bahamians being indirectly taxed to keep people in positions that are not needed. This is classic third world mentality.
sheeprunner12 10 years, 3 months ago
I agree with you .............. as a matter of fact the local BEC office informs all customers when their bill exceed $500 or 2 months arrears......... so I dont know who these "average" customers are who have 5G bills .... Inagua????
The_Oracle 10 years, 3 months ago
Miller is trying to paint us all with the same brush, a brush the PLP own and wield with apparent immunity! Try standing before a Judge with the defense he uses, when he is found wanting on his own bill: "Many businesses owe arrears......"
TalRussell 10 years, 3 months ago
A major cabinet and appointees "change" is a coming .... like sooner than later? I'm going to add some ingredients to Pot cake's slow cooker pot. I believe Comrade Leslie is but one of four PLP MP's who will be fired outright or demoted by Prime Minister Christie. And, guess what - all but one know damn well they have been marked for good-riddance by the P.M. They say the fallen find few friends in politics but would Minnis, or even former PM Hubert, touch such a Pot cake magnet for controversy? Could Bran turn a blind eye, if it means capturing a automatic House seat for the fledgling Green Party?
Honestman 10 years, 3 months ago
Tal, we all know the PM ain't gonna fire nobody! Let's face it, he should be the first to resign on account of a complete dereliction of duty. A Prime Minister is supposed to lead, to take the tough decisions. PGC is more concerned with establishing his "legacy" and trying to legitimize his premiership with unnecessary trips to the Vatican. At least half of the cabinet should never have been chosen in the first place given their scandal ridden incompetence last time round. So don't hold your breath waiting on anyone being fired - it ain't gonna happen.
TalRussell 10 years, 3 months ago
Comrade Honest Man the PM may have no other option than to fire or be fired as PM? The Christie administration has been severely damaged, not by the opposition but by their own doings. I remind all PLP's that the late Pindling said after the PLP suffered a massive defeat at the polls; "how he had made a mistake by not recognizing how out of touch his PLP administration had become among an angry electorate"
Honestman 10 years, 3 months ago
Tal, I don't think the PLP will fire Perry Christie because he is serving a valuable purpose for those with the real power behind the scenes. PGC is merely a convenient figurehead for the wheelers and dealers within the Party. He is happy playing at being the Prime Minister whilst the hidden deals are being done all around him. That's my perception. I also don't think the party is out of touch with the electorate. I think they know exactly how the public feels - it's just that they don't care. Again, just my perception.
TalRussell 10 years, 3 months ago
Comrade are you telling me PM Christie is the reincarnation of a figurehead premier Roland Symonette, under Stafford "Brave" Sands?
ThisIsOurs 10 years, 3 months ago
Yes, I think that's what he's telling you, and I for one believe him. I've been asking myself the question for some time now, "who is the Prime Minister"? Is it Brave, Frankie, Brad or some other man behind the curtain? Flowers? ..who is PM? Maybe birdie knows..
ThisIsOurs 10 years, 3 months ago
Instead of pouring all of our hard earned money down the toilet, why doesn't the government subsidize solar panels for all to code constructed houses. Start with those single mothers who keep crying every month.
Honestman 10 years, 3 months ago
That's far too sensible a suggestion.
TalRussell 10 years, 3 months ago
Comrades I bet you forgot back in 201o0 when Hubert and his BEC Minister loaded up the trunks of they cars, going door to door handing out $3 million in free light bulbs?
jboi242 10 years, 3 months ago
stop buying diesel from franky wilson who making extra profits buy the diesel straight from the direct seller.
luvsnest 10 years, 3 months ago
The way that we operate in the Bahamas. Is that we set up our people to fail. If you are unable to pay $500.00 how in the hell are you going to pay $5000.00. We teach our people do not pay your bill and then we will let you slide. That is why we in the situation were in Know. I can assure you that if you turn off the light at $500.00 they will pay somthing on it to keep it on!!!
Inverleith 10 years, 3 months ago
Would Miller mind telling us how many MPs and other senior Members of the political class have outstanding BEC bills and depending on the answer we might take him seriously.
PLP_Catastrophe 10 years, 3 months ago
My BEC bill this month is MORE THAN MY MONTHLY MORTGAGE PAYMENT and my house been in more darkness than light !!. **The common hard working men and women are finding it difficult to survive in this country NOW, and now they goin to put VAT on top of BEC? the Plips and their cronies need to pay up...has Wendell Jones paid, yet?
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