The Tribune

HOW ARE THE BEC POWER CUTS AFFECTING YOU? LET US KNOW HERE.

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

RESIDENTS across New Providence should expect load shedding until early next week as the Bahamas Electricity Corporation grapples with two major problems, Executive Chairman Leslie Miller said last night.

Mr Miller said BEC had power generation issues at its Blue Hills Power Station and an engine at the Clifton Pier plant is offline until at least Friday for routine maintenance.

This has left BEC with a power generation shortfall of about 10 megawatts, prompting load shedding over the weekend which Mr Miller warned could last until next Monday.

He added that there has been a greater demand for electricity over the weekend, presumably because of hot weather.

Residents in east and west New Providence reported power outages lasting for hours over the weekend, with some complaining of power cuts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“We’re going to be load shedding for a while,” he said last night. “The load today in New Providence was about 205 mega watts to 207 mega watts and we are only producing 195 mega watts right now.”

He added: “This demand has come earlier this year, it is a little hotter. We may be fine during the day but come evening hours we are going to be load shedding until Friday or next week Monday.”

Mr Miller said BEC’s problems were serious.

“We are out 20 mega watts on the combined cycle (engine) at Blue Hills and then at Clifton, one engine isn’t going to be back up before the weekend, it is undergoing normal service.”

He said experts from the United States will be in the capital on Thursday to help repair the engine’s leaky boiler.

Mr Miller also said that poor maintenance of the Clifton Pier Power Plant is partly responsible for the corporation’s electricity provision woes. Claims of poor maintenance at BEC plants have previously put Mr Miller at odds with the unions representing workers at the corporation.

“The problem with Clifton is maintenance,” he said. “We have not been doing proper maintenance on a consistent basis. We experience intermittent problems too often. My biggest complaint is that we don’t do it the way we should. People could argue as much as they please but the facts don’t change. There has to be proper, consistent maintenance every single day since we are dealing with massive generators.”

Mr Miller said incoming generators should help the corporation provide electricity to residents. Last week, he said the first set of rental generators secured for BEC would arrive over the next few days, reducing the chance of blackouts during the summer months. The generators will be rented for about six months at a cost of $8m.

“The generators are just coming in now,” he said yesterday, describing their arrival as “incremental.”

“The one we have now that has arrived can produce about five megawatts of power but it hasn’t gone into the system yet.”

According to Mr Miller, “it will be a rough summer” though he later added that the incoming generators should help the corporation meet the peak demand for electricity.

“(Mega resort) Baha Mar right now uses about seven megawatts of power,” he said. “It is going to take about 16 megawatts of power when it is up and running so the generators coming will help but the demand will go up as well.”