1,400 consumers disconnected from power grid

Bahamas Power and Light headquarters.

As of Friday, October 7, 2022

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Power and Light CEO Shevonn Cambridge has revealed that slightly more than 1,400 consumers have been disconnected from the power grid.

He explained to The Tribune that while the system does not allow officials to determine the reason for disconnection, he would imagine that the majority are shut off from service due to non-payment.

“When they checked the system, it showed that out of the - I think it’s like 100,000 — we used to have 120 (thousand) and then after the storms in Abaco and the lights dropped — so they tell me it is about 102,000 or thereabouts.

“And so, out of the 100,000 plus, they only had 1,400 people who were disconnected yesterday when they checked,” he said on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis announced that BPL will be increasing its monthly fuel charge in response to rising fuel costs, with the rate increase set to be reflected in consumers’ electricity bills beginning November.

However, he gave an assurance that the bill increases will only be temporary and are expected to come down over the next 12 to 18 months.

Asked if he fears more customers will be unable to pay their bills due to the increase, Mr Cambridge said: “Not really, because like I said the increases for most people, it’s less than $20 a month. I mean, it’s literally two cents or thereabout, so if you’re under 800 kilowatt hours per kilowatt an hour and the majority of people around that 800 or less kilowatt hour.”

The announcement has ignited outrage by the public as they complain of battling with inflation. However, Mr Cambridge pointed to the efforts the company has made to ensure customers are not too heavily burdened.

“We’re making it at a rate that we think the public could absorb or digest. So to speak, soften the blow,” he said.

Public Works Minister Alfred Sears had previously said BPL is on the precipice of financial fallout if it does not act immediately to align the fuel charge with current global prices, ensure reliable sources of clean, reliable and sustainable energy and move to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels as promised by the Davis administration’s Blueprint for Change.

mandela 2 years, 2 months ago

They need to set electricity top-up.

tribanon 2 years, 2 months ago

Pray tell, what is BPL going to do when more than half of its customers must be disconnected because of their inability to pay their electricity bills?

Emilio26 2 years, 2 months ago

I guess they won't care because at the end of the day BPL is providing a service which of course is not free.

tribanon 2 years, 2 months ago

Wrong again. With insufficient revenue from a dwindling customer base to cover BPL's exorbitant fixed and variable costs, and without government being able to borrow to subsidize BPL's operating losses, the Bahamas will simply go dark like most failed states.

On any very dark night with clear skies, satellite imagery shows a bright lit up South Korea compared to a North Korea in pitch black darkness. Guess which Korea we will soon look like?

Bobsyeruncle 2 years, 2 months ago

One would have to assume that those being disconnected are not providing any revenue, so it wouldn't really make much difference

tribanon 2 years, 2 months ago

Bottom line: BPL needs paying customers to survive and too many customers are about to find they are no longer able to pay their electricity bill because they can barely afford the food they need to eat, the gasoline they need to put in their vehicle to go to work, and the basic medications they (or their loved ones) need to take to stay alive. It's gonna be lights out for way too many Bahamians not by choice, but by necessity. Coming to a theatre near you sooner than you care to think!

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