Bahamas Power and Light headquarters.
By KHRISNA RUSSELL
Deputy Chief Reporter
krussell@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMAS Power and Light’s generation challenges are continuing and have been exacerbated by the delay of some rental generators.
Load shedding was continued in portions of eastern New Providence yesterday, with many residents lashing out on the power provider’s Facebook page that they had been suffering in the heat for hours.
This included one woman who complained that her sick father and his nurses on the Eastern Road had been without power for three hours.
A BPL spokesperson told The Tribune that rental generators with 14 megawatts of power were up and running since Sunday afternoon.
Last week, BPL executives said last week the rental units were to be fully installed by last Saturday.
“There was a delay with the rest and it may be exacerbating the issue but it is not the cause of it,” a BPL spokesman told The Tribune. “So the load shedding is continuing because of the generation shortfall.”
An additional four megawatts of power were expected to be in operation today to help alleviate the strain of the generation shortfall.
Yesterday’s power cuts were a continuation of weekend outages, which were widespread. The issues continued well into the afternoon with BPL reporting shortly before 4pm that Palmetto Village, Carmichael Road west, Kennedy Subdivision, Winton #2, East Street South #2, Spanse Invest, Harbourside West, Lyford Cay, Soldier Road west, Moss Road and Village Road were all offline.
On Facebook, consumers did not hold back their emotions as they blasted BPL for continued disruptions that have affected many in various ways. One customer went as far as calling for the resignations of the company’s entire executive board.
BPL apologised a little over a week ago after rolling power cuts affected the entire island.
BPL chairman Donovan Moxey at the time called it an anomaly as he said it was unacceptable that there had been widespread load shedding, grossly inconveniencing thousands of paying customers.
At the time, he explained that BPL took measures to avoid continuous load shedding.
He said the company did anticipate elevated summer demand and had planned to have rental generators in place by June 18. However rainy weather created a delay in their delivery.
He also noted then that BPL had anticipated that the rental Aggreko units to be fully installed between last Wednesday and Friday at a cost of just under $2m a month.
As for when the situation is expected to get better, Mr Moxey said realistically not until this fall, when the new power plant is expected to be fully functional.
Comments
BahamaPundit 5 years, 5 months ago
There is no excuse whatsoever for these blackouts period! The FNM has failed the Bahamian people. Nobody in the party has the balls to admit this failure. The bare requirement for any Bahamian Government is to keep the lights on. The planning was not completed during the winter months for the hot summer. The FNM cannot blame anyone else but themselves for this failure. Symonette sees the writing on the wall and is jumping the sinking ship, like Pinder did when the PLP was going down. The FNM has failed worse than Christie's PLP. They must confess their sins and seek forgiveness.
proudloudandfnm 5 years, 5 months ago
um, no party has ever failed as badly as perry's PLP. You must be mad.....
And I cannot stand Minnis…. But damn.... Perry and his crew of thieves were the worst and probably will forever be known as the worst....
Dawes 5 years, 5 months ago
I would bet that they tried to save money by not renting the generator units until they needed them. This meant they then had to wait whilst the units were installed etc. Which in turn means we the public have to put up with this. Its the same every year. Was hoping this Government would be different but they are the same. I don't fully blame them for the problems as this is a multi Government issue that should have been dealt with 20 years ago (which is why the last 2 Government are the worst we have ever had, as they knew and did nothing). But at the same time the FNM has been in power for 2 years and still not signed off on the shell deal (yes we have a new plant that will help next year, but it is always next year). If the shell deal is not good then get someone else, but for God sake doing something instead of working out how much will line your pocket.
TheMadHatter 5 years, 5 months ago
WHO CARES? Anybody can just walk into the areas where these generators are anytime day or night and set them on fire. There are no video cameras setup to catch would-be culprits. There is no follow up investigation. Just like last year. Generators burned up??? No follow-up, no investigation, no new preventative measures. Sadly it seems more generator fires may be in our future. My advice would be not to waste money on any generators. Turn them all off and turn off ALL power nationwide. It really wont make any difference. Trust me .... if they turned off ALL power TODAY and kept it off 24-7 until the 11th - THE TURNOUT OF PEOPLE DANCING AND CELEBRATING ON JULY 10TH WILL BREAK ALL PRIOR TURNOUT RECORDS. Bahamians will not care. Beer, music, dancing, erryting iree.
DDK 5 years, 5 months ago
You think ANY BEC employee or politician gives a good hoot? Even one out of ten?
DDK 5 years, 5 months ago
SICKENING! SICKENING! SICKENING!
DWW 5 years, 5 months ago
So how come the unions gone crickets? anyone anyone? I don't hear them cussing about how them furiners better bring one doctor wid em anymore. Exactly. get the F to work an do you #$%@ job slackers. Who gi ya dat job My MP!
TheMadHatter 5 years, 5 months ago
Do not forget that it was only a few days after the union warned govt that they must rehire the employees who had been fired, that these fires coincidentally broke out. Perhaps the union is being quiet because they would not want anyone to wrongly shine a light of suspicion on them?
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