The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

TRIBUNE Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Grid Company’s introduction into the process for newly-built properties to get connected to New Providence’s grid has created “an absolute flippin’ nightmare that the consumer is burdened with”, a prominent local developer is blasting.

The developer, whose identity is known to Tribune Business but requested anonymity for fear of victimisation, said he has been inundated with complaints from owners of newly-built properties about the length of time it is taking to get connected to the electricity grid following the splitting of transmission and distribution (T&D) responsibilities between Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) and Bahamas Grid Company.

He added that what used to be a process taking between a week-and-a-half to two weeks, when only BPL was involved, is now “taking months” after Bahamas Grid Company assumed oversight for much of the T&D network amid ongoing uncertainties and tensions in the relationship between the two entities following the Government’s hastily-enacted energy reforms.

The developer explained that, previously, persons seeking to connect new properties to the grid would obtain their occupancy certificate from the Ministry of Works and present this to BPL to prove construction was all in order. Upon making application for electricity service to BPL, the state-owned utility would conduct an assessment of what was required for connectivity and the associated cost, which the prospective customer would be billed for.

Once this was paid, hook-up to the grid would take place and BPL install the electricity meter. However, the developer said that now, after producing the occupancy certificate and making the application to BPL, it is instead Bahamas Grid Company that has to go out and do the cost and installation assessment.

This then has to be reported back to BPL, with the customer paying the required fee to the state-owned utility - not Bahamas Grid Company. The developer added that, once BPL has confirmed payment, the prospective customer than has to take the receipt back to Bahamas Grid Company for it to carry out the connection. But, for the final step of meter installation, they then have to turn around yet again and go back to BPL.

Asserting that this process is causing “a whole new level of bureaucracy, delay and nightmare”, the developer pleaded with BPL and Bahamas Grid Company management to “go back to the drawing board and figure this mess out” for the benefit of Bahamian homeowners and consumers.

Bahamas Grid Company, in a statement responding to Tribune Business inquiries, said it was aware that some customers have suffered unspecified “difficulties” and it is willing to always work with them to “help their projects recover”.

The company, which has an initial 25-year agreement to own, operate and maintain New Providence’s energy grid, said: “Bahamas Grid Company is always concerned about customers and their complaints, and any processes related to the grid. 

“Yes, there have been some customers who’ve experienced difficulties and, when that happens, we work closely with them to help their projects recover and get them back on track. We’re always seeking to improve continuously with Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) and other stakeholders involved.  However, it would be helpful if we had more details so we can look more closely into the developer’s concerns in an effort to resolve these matters.”

BPL did not respond to this newspaper’s request for comment. However, the developer blasted: “We’re getting complaints from home owners that it’s taking an exceptionally long time now to get connected to the grid because of BPL’s separation of responsibilities between BPL and Bahamas Grid Company.

“What they’re doing, it means you have to get your certificate of occupancy from the Ministry of Works to show that your occupancy is proven. Then, you take that down to BPL and make an application for your meter. Once you submit the application for your meter, BPL contacts Bahamas Grid to go out and do the assessment for the capital costs to get electricity to your home. They have to go out and examine what it takes.

“That number then has to go back to BPL because BPL, in this transaction between BPL and Bahamas Grid Company, refuses to let them receive the money. BPL has to get the consumer to pay them, and then BPL has to call Bahamas Grid Company and say that you’ve paid, and then you take that receipt down there and Bahamas Grid Company does the connection, calls BPL and then you submit your application to have the meter installed by BPL.”

As a result of this, and Bahamas Grid Company’s introduction to the process, the developer said that what used to take a week-and-a-half to two weeks to achieve is “now taking months to get connected”. They added that “if you don’t call, call, call” the two entities involved to check on progress the wait can be even longer.

“They have created a nightmare between these two companies that the consumer is burdened with and it has to get sorted out,” the developer told Tribune Business. “It’s an absolute flippin’ nightmare. We have a whole new level of bureaucracy, delay and nightmare because Bahamas Grid Company cannot receive payment since it and BPL have not figured out their business relationship. It’s absolutely ridiculous…

“It was difficult enough for me, and I’m still trying to get stuff connected. It was a mess for ease of doing business. Connections for new customers is just frustrating. The different responsibilities in these two companies did not do the Bahamian people any justice at all. They need to go back to the drawing board and figure it out because it’s an absolute mess. I feel bad for homeowners; it’s just such an arduous track now.

“The decision-makers need to go back, sit down and figure it out. As a developer I’m pleading with them on behalf of the consumer to please go back to the future and figure this out. I mean on behalf of the consumer. It’s not for my benefit. For God’s sake go figure it out.”

The new-build connectivity concerns further suggest that the transition from BPL to Bahamas Grid Company, and the latter’s assumption of the New Providence transmission and distribution assets, was not well thought-out or executed.

The transfer of grid assets has yet to be completed, with these placed “in escrow”, leaving them in legal limbo or a ‘no man’s land’ of uncertainty. As a result, it is unclear whether BPL or Bahamas Grid Company has responsibility for these assets, the maintenance and repair, and which set of workers can handle them.

In addition, BPL’s 120 New Providence-based transmission and distribution workers have largely declined to switch to Bahamas Grid Company, fearing they would lose their union benefits, pension and years of service if they do so. As a result, Bahamas Grid Company has lacked key knowledge for its grid upgrades, since the location of key electrical equipment has not been documented but, instead, rests in the mind and memories of these workers.

Well-placed Tribune Business sources have questioned whether BPL has conducted sufficient summer preparation and maintenance, especially on the transmission and distribution network. They also suggested that Bahamas Grid Company and its contractor, Pike Electrical, had in their $130m “foundational upgrades” focused largely on the transmission side and left distribution largely untouched at the neighbourhood level where much of the recent outages occurred.