The Tribune

Tourism stakeholders on Harbour Island yesterday hailed Bahamas Power and Light’s (BPL) plan to provide a 6 Mega Watt (MW) power plant to address long-standing energy concerns as “very encouraging”, one executive telling Tribune Business: “We’re thrilled.”

Dean Spychalla, vice-president and managing director of Valentine’s Residences Resort and Marina, said: “We’re very encouraged and this is one component of several initiatives that they have planned to improve generation and sharing of power, in both Harbor Island and North Eleuthera. There are still plans to upgrade the transmission lines from Bay to Three Island Dock. We’re thrilled.”

The island’s long-standing power supply woes were highlighted last year following a series of electricity plant fires in April, and another in June, during the key holiday weekends such as US Memorial Day.

The issue prompted a group of Harbour Island businesses to send a letter to the Ministry of Tourism highlighting their concerns over the damage to the island’s economy and reputation as a high-end tourist destination.

    More recently, Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) chief executive, Pam Hill, met with a small group of Harbour Island tourism and business stakeholders this summer following an especially bad week for power outages and surges across Eleuthera.

The disruption has had a significant impact on revenues in the hospitality sector, with some marina, home rental and hotel guests vowing never to return to Harbour Island.

“The economic engine that is Harbour Island, finally, after almost 30 years of very unreliable electricity, has at least a  commitment on the part of BPL  to solve this problem long-term. I think that people here are relieved and very happy,” said Mr Spychalla.

The 6 MW plant on Harbour Island is a stand-by plant, and the island will continue to run on power generated on mainland Eleuthera. If the main source fails, however, the plant will kick-in, feeding the island some 6 MW. Peak hours top out at a little over 5 MW.