By KHRISNA VIRGIL
kvirgil@tribunemedia.net
THE Bahamas Electricity Corporation is still investigating the cause of yesterday's island-wide power outage that left thousands of customers without service for several hours, according to a statement released by the company.
Officials said power was fully restored by noon although several persons reported that they still had no electricity until shortly before 2pm.
The statement said: "BEC advises that there was a surge on its system at approximately 8.14am on Monday morning which resulted in the island-wide outage. Crews were immediately dispatched to restore supplies and to investigate the cause of the surge.
"BEC began restoring supplies to its customers in less than half an hour after the initial fault.
"The last remaining customers had their supplies restored at noon on Monday."
The cause of the surge has been isolated to a problem on one of the company's transmission networks, the release said.
BEC apologised for the outage and assured customers that it is taking steps to ensure that such occurrences are, if not eradicated, at least minimised.
Last month, another island-wide power outage took place after two men working near power lines received electric shocks.
The men, who were working for a private company when the accident occurred, were rushed to hospital by ambulance.
They were later released.
A statement released at the time said the malfunction of a protective relay - which would have isolated the fault in the system - caused BEC's entire system to trip.
Comments
auditor 11 years, 10 months ago
Fellow Bahamians, is it just me, or do we need more choices for our utilities? Both BEC and BTC need competition. We need to fully open up the market for new comers. Island-wide outages are unacceptable in this day and age.
We say we have infrastructure, what infrastructure? It should be a matter of "who is the best telephone service provider or who is the best choice for electricity?" NOT "you take what you get" WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS!
John 11 years, 10 months ago
I think B.E.C disconnected too many of its customers at one time...this cause a msssive power build- up in its supply channel, so there was a power surge that cause all the remaining customers bills to double. Since many of them won't be able to pay these bills at the end of the month, they too will be disconnected. Then B.E.C will decide it is not economically feasible to run its generators to supply the few remaining customers still on line and so BEC will shut down. WHen you call their customer service hotline (if you still have phone service) they will tell you to go lite a candle.
positiveinput 11 years, 10 months ago
Speaking of disconnecting too many of its customers at one time. Ever considered for BEC to pay their bills they need the customers (us) to pay ours. I was affected by the black out also but half of these people who complaining if not two thirds have large outstanding bills with the company. Thats not a souse house for the homeless so how could one complain that BEC needs to upgrade its equipment if no one is paying their bill. At the end of the month the majority of us Bahamians leave a balance on our utility bills yet we expect the portion we pay to be sufficient for BEC to purchase fuel, pay staff, maintain equipment and in some cases purchase new equipment. I strongly hope another black out doesn't occur but still we as Bahamians need to do our part before we expect better from another. Now before you blame BEC for disconnecting 'customers', blame them for not paying their bills. Remember the saying, 'You only get what you pay for.' Well with BEC its the other way around, 'You only pay for what you get'. These same people who claiming they cant afford to pay for what they already obtained should be ashame of themselves, cause every year they travel abroad purchasing bigger flat screen tv's, air conditioners and other appliances. Then you have homes where one house have a meter and extension cords run to about six more homes, so how is it BEC must average the load their generators are expected to handle. Snoop Dogg have a saying that applies right now, "Everyone have their cups but they aint chipped in".
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