The Tribune

The five-year deal with PowerSecure so far has brought nothing but mismanagement, broken trust and overcharging, Stanley Cartwright says . . .

Last night, New Providence was plunged into darkness by yet another abrupt power outage. It was the most recent in a slew of outages that has become the norm for our new power “provider/manager”.

Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) have been an abysmal failure since they were brought here by the government in February. Amid much fanfare, the company promised to implement a “robust business plan with the goal to reduce customer electricity costs and provide increased reliability”.

We have not had a reduction in customer electricity costs, and neither have we been blessed with this illusive promise of “increased reliability”.

Under the terms of the Management Services Agreement (MSA) with the government of the Bahamas, PowerSecure was to provide its management services to Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) for the next five years

To assist, the Government passed energy reform legislation for the incorporation of BPL, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC), to provide safe and secure electrical services for the Bahamas. The government even removed from the management of BEC, its executive chairman, Leslie Miller, to pave the way for this foreign group of “professionals”.

But what has BPL done in return? Very little it seems.

Under the terms of PowerSecure and BPL’s MSA, in addition to PowerSecure receiving a baseline annual management fee of $2m, BPL must achieve pre-defined key performance indicators (KPIs) related to cost reductions, reliability improvements and customer service enhancements in order for PowerSecure to receive potential additional performance-based compensation of up to 150 per cent of their management fee per year.

But what do the Bahamian people receive when BPL fail to live up to their end of the bargain?

They have mismanaged and destroyed any trust that the Bahamian people have invested in them. They have squandered our last ounce of patience.

The Bahamian people have had enough. It is not good enough for us to simply keep giving BPL a pass when our electrical supply is interrupted day in and day out. It is not good enough for us to simply “forgive and forget” when they overcharge us on our monthly bills by “estimating”.

We are not amused by their public relations stunts of radio appearances and Facebook posts, asking the public to “bear with them” as they word “assiduously” to resolve one problem after the next.

We no longer care to hear the excuses. We want results. That is why you are here, BPL. You are being paid handsomely to accomplish a task that you said you can achieve.

You have sold us a bill of goods, and we want what we paid for. If you are not up to the task, please, for the love of God, go. Go, and go quickly!

When Bahamians join in on the next installment of the #WeMarch demonstrations, we hope that hundreds, nay, thousands, more join in to demand that BPL is removed from the management of BEC.

They have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are not up to the task for which they were hired. It is high time that they accepted that and moved on. The Bahamian people can ill afford to continue to pay for such a vital service as electricity and fail to get it on a daily basis.

That, to us, is only fair.

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