12,000 disconnected for not paying their electricity bills

As of Thursday, December 22, 2016

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

AS many as 12,000 Bahamians have had their power disconnected due to nonpayment, Department of Statistics officials revealed yesterday as they released the results of the latest Labour Force Survey.

Cypreanna Winters, a statistician with the DOS, said: “Approximately 10 per cent of households where the main source of lighting was electricity had their power disconnected due to nonpayment of their bills.”

Ms Winters said that “10 per cent” translates to about 12,000 people.

The survey was conducted between October 24 and 30 of this year.

Earlier this year, Deputy Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said the government was working with Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) to write off many of the company’s delinquent accounts.

This meant that 3,000 users would then be placed back on the grid, a number far below the 12,000 DOS officials say have had their electricity disconnected.

However, BPL officials have said they have no plans to restore power to the homes of delinquent customers.

“Our statement is we don’t have any plans to do that at this time,” a BPL official said in June.

And in July, Pamela Hill, BPL CEO, reiterated that BPL officials were “not in any talks” with the government over a forgiveness or write-off programme.

She instead encouraged customers to continue paying their bills on time to remain connected.

At the time, former Bahamas Electricity Corporation Chairman Leslie Miller was critical of Ms Hill’s statement.

“Y’all getting mix up here,” the Tall Pines MP said. “(BPL has) a contract to manage BEC so they don’t have the final say as to what goes on in BEC. As far as anything, the government is the one who fund BEC, not BPL. With the greatest respect they only managing (the company) so ain’t nobody could dictate and say what the government (can do) or (say) no discussions are taking (place). (Those) discussions (are) above her head as far as what the government intends to do. If the minister says they intend to write off those bills that cannot be collected that is a decision by the government not BPL.”

BEC, as the state owned utility provider was then called, launched an electricity assistance programme in June 2013 to reconnect more than 7,000 delinquent residential customers. BEC, which was renamed BPL earlier this year, ran another programme that month offering residential customers in arrears a 10 per cent discount if they paid their outstanding bill in full.

Socrates 7 years, 4 months ago

it might be painful, but this is the kind of thing that has to happen if government debt will ever decrease. somebody has to pay, there is no free lunch.. gov't can't support all these laggards like BPL and Bahamasair..

OMG 7 years, 4 months ago

But does Leslie Miller get cut off, Do the schools get cut off, Do the clinics get cut off ?

birdiestrachan 7 years, 4 months ago

I do have the tendency to feel sorry for person without light.. but when it come to shopping cell phones, hair and nails . I question my self are things really all that bad, for some I am sure. but many persons do not have money sense is what I call it. What comes first?

B_I_D___ 7 years, 4 months ago

Wow...agreeing with Birdie...WTF??!! That cash in the pocket is burning through their clothes...they don't understand the concept of putting money aside to pay bills...as fast as they get it, they spend it...then when the light bill does turn up, they panic because they can't pay it!

goodbyebahamas 7 years, 4 months ago

Even though I cant stand the sight of you *, yes, I now know who you are and still can't believe you turned down my one million dollar offer for your identity exposure on this blog, and don't worry your identity is safe with me Prime Minister; but I agree with you this time on what your saying. I believe people have lost their senses, they rather be drugging, drinking and fornicating with someone's wife till the wee hours of the night even on a work week. They have lost all faith in God and country, but that is partly your fault. They have nothing to live for with you in the office, they won't commit suicide because of God's laws, so their drugging and drinking themselves to death to forget about their daily misery; who can blame them.

RUKiddingMe 7 years, 4 months ago

So, was there any credit given for the massive and frequent outages experienced?

B_I_D___ 7 years, 4 months ago

The credit was that you weren't getting charged for electricity!! LOL

GrassRoot 7 years, 4 months ago

so we should get more outages then. I like it.

DDK 7 years, 4 months ago

Did anybody get the bit about: “Y’all getting mix up here,” the Tall Pines MP said. “(BPL has) a contract to manage BEC so they don’t have the final say as to what goes on in BEC. As far as anything, the government is the one who fund BEC, not BPL. With the greatest respect they only managing (the company) so ain’t nobody could dictate and say what the government (can do) or (say) no discussions are taking (place). (Those) discussions (are) above her head as far as what the government intends to do. If the minister says they intend to write off those bills that cannot be collected that is a decision by the government not BPL.”

What exactly is the point about forking out Bahamian tax payer dollars to a non-Bahamian company to 'manage' the corporation if the government still calls all the shots? It never made any sense then and it makes no sense now unless.............could someone have received a 'gift' from the foreign company as a thank you for the contract? Surely not in THIS Bahamas!

Clamshell 7 years, 4 months ago

I didn't get it either ... Leslie Miller can barely speak English and doesn't pay his own bills, so his "thoughts" on the matter are hardly a surprise.

MassExodus 7 years, 4 months ago

I hope Leslie Miller dies slow.

goodbyebahamas 7 years, 4 months ago

My friend's wife worked for Leslie Miller for 3 months at the BEC (That's all she could take of that MF-er), she said he was the biggest a$$hole she has ever met. She said he would talk down to his employees and even remembering them that he was college educated; what a F-ing a$$hole, I'm college educated too, but I swear like a sailor, who the F cares?! But she also told me that one day he left his lunch out as he went to the restroom, and someone spit and put a pubic hair in his sandwich....LOL! If it was me, I would have gave up the job at the BEC in a heartbeat for the given chance to leave a $hit load in his sandwich.....LOL!

goodbyebahamas 7 years, 4 months ago

F, my Bahamian friend just texted me a photo of Mauna Kea Mountain in Hawaii with snow on top 20 degree weather and it's 80 degree weather below where he is at the airport. But I'm having trouble uploaded to this blog; it's beautiful, snow above, and palm trees below. F, I'm going to miss the outer islands of the Bahamas,they are truly beautiful, the food, the people, miss them all. My Bahamian friend also tells me they don't have conchs in Hawaii, and don't even know what a conch salad is; what the F@#K!

goodbyebahamas 7 years, 4 months ago

And sorry, he wasn't at the airport, he was eating lunch in a town named Hilo when he took this photo; my mistake. Isn't that crazy, in the pacific tropics snow on the mountain with beautiful 80 degree weather below, who the F knew? Well, enjoy the photo.

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proudloudandfnm 7 years, 4 months ago

How do you Nassau folks know when your electricity is turned off? Does BEC leave a note?

ohdrap4 7 years, 4 months ago

they leave yellow tags on the meter, if they have access. the gas have the amount owed on it. i am in a gated community, one time they disconnected maybe ten people, but could not get i, so there were these neon post-it notes on the gate.

as people got home they gathered there, to find out who had been cutoff.

GrassRoot 7 years, 4 months ago

I love it: I think you know when you try to switch on the light and it does not work?

DillyTree 7 years, 4 months ago

Ok, I get the cutting off for not paying the bill, but what is this crap about Brave seeing that some unpaid accounts get written off? All of them? Or just certain ones? Like maybe PLP supporters? Maybe I need to stop paying my BEC/BPL bill, then I too can have it written off.

Where are the consequences of not paying your bill? You don't pay, no lights. It's pretty damn simple. Why should the rest of us pay on time while others do not, but get rewarded for it?

GrassRoot 7 years, 4 months ago

hey it is the same "Oh we will prove S&P wrong"-Attitude. Delusional. Hey why do you need electricity right? The sun will go up tomorrow morning again.

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