The Tribune

BY DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

FOR the first time post-Hurricane Matthew, power was restored in several areas of Freeport on Wednesday night to the relief of some customers, and other areas are expected to be restored soon.

According to Cleopatra Russell, public relations officer at the Grand Bahama Power Company (GBPC), a week into its restoration efforts, the company was able to connect about 20 per cent of its customers.

She said additional manpower from its parent company EMERA in Nova Scotia arrived on island Thursday to assist with the restoration efforts.

“Six or seven days post-Matthew, we were able to connect our first group of customers last night, which accounted for 20 per cent of our total customers base,” she said.

According to Mrs Russell, officials were now working to next restore power to the Rand Memorial Hospital and the industrial commercial sector.

Crews from GBPC and Tampa Electric have been working 16 hours a day, and an additional 48-member crew from Emera Utility Services Nova Scotia Power was brought in to significantly increase manpower.

“They landed today and with their arrival we will have 14 additional crews on the ground working to restore power to our customers,” she said.

GBPC supplies power to some 18,000 residential and commercial customers on Grand Bahama.

Sarah McDonald, CEO of GBPC, reported that some 99,000 manpower hours is needed to get the island’s power supply fully restored.

The power company sustained significant damage during the storm, which took down some 1,200 poles.

Mrs Russell noted that some 1,250 distribution poles, and 250 transmission poles and their attachments need to be replaced.

“Our greatest challenges from a logistic standpoint is getting those poles coming into the island by barge, which can only bring in so much at a time and we expect there might be some challenges,” she said.

When asked the cost of the damage, Mrs Russell was unable to give an exact figure, but said it would be substantial.

“We don’t know what that cost is, but one advantage we have is that we are pulling from our Emera resources and that has really helped us along the way. EMERA has been very supportive and our Tampa affiliate, and in Maine, and Nova Scotia, and it helped us to respond so quickly,” she said.

“We can’t say when the island will be completely restored, but we are trying to get as many customers connected as quickly as possible we are putting in crews everywhere we can.

“Our goal is to bring in 150 people, which is 10 times the amount of resources we have at GB Power, and that shows our commitment to making this as short of a restoration period as possible.”

Mrs Russell said getting the hospital and industrial area energised is a priority.

“We expect to have the hospital on tonight (Thursday night), and we want to move to the industrial area, particularly where Crown Ice is located because the island is being challenged with ice and water and there are individuals with infants that need ice, and those with medication that need to remain cool,” she stated.

She said the power company has helped BTC to keep its cell services up by helping them with servicing their generators or if they need fuel or technical assistance.

Mrs Russell urged residents to be patient and said while some areas may have not lost any poles, they cannot get power because the main transmission and distribution poles, which take power from the generating facility, are damaged.

She said GBPC had a plan prior to the storm, which allowed the company to hit the ground a day after the storm to assess the damage and begin restoration.