The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian businesses yesterday said they were “very concerned” that the alleged sabotage at the Bahamas Electricity Corporation’s (BEC) Clifton Pier plant could mean increased electricity costs and power disruptions in the summer months.

Geoffrey Knowles, operations manager at bottled water producer, Aquapure, told Tribune Business that any negative impact on BEC’s ability to meet power demands was occurring at the worst time of year.

“This supposed sabotage has me very concerned,” he said. “This is the busiest time of year for us. We have three to four months that we can make some money, and if we are going to be interrupted by power outages it’s going to cause serious havoc.

“It’s not just in the lost work hours but also the fact that we run some pretty sensitive equipment, and every time we have a power cut, if there is a slight surge or brown out, we lose motors and sensors.

“It could be thousands of dollars in equipment loss, and that has me more concerned than the bill right now. I’m hoping that for all concerned, the chairman can get this sorted out. I support the chairman 100 per cent on what he is trying to do. We are being held prisoner by BEC and this has to come to an end some time.”

A major engine and auxiliary equipment were reportedly sabotaged at the Clifton plant on Sunday, with BEC’s chairman, Leslie Miller, arguing it was improbable that the damage could be done by someone unfamiliar with the plant.

The engine at the Clifton power plant had to be shut down after some 15 lines were severed, and sections of cables removed from an engine room and auxiliary room sometime before 10pm Sunday.

Although the engine encountered difficulties on Sunday evening, BEC workers did not discover that the lines had been cut until the following day.

Mr Miller has stated in the past that the Clifton power station, whose engines use a cheaper Bunker C fuel, was key to reducing electricity costs for consumers. He added that BEC may have to absorb an additional $250,000 cost per day in fuel to sustain its operations.

Winston Rolle, a former chief executive at the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC), told Tribune Business: “As we approach the summer months persons are going to be using more electricity via air-conditioners, and you have businesses that rely on refrigeration for their operation.

“If there is going to be any increased cost of electricity, obviously that is very concerning. Based on what Mr Miller had said, getting the Clifton Pier generators up to where it was producing in a more efficient manner would have resulted in lower energy costs, but having to now revert back to the less efficient Blue Hills plant brings a higher fuel cost and means more costs to the consumer, so that is very concerning.

“I think, in some regards, persons may have started to see some lowering of energy costs, which is encouraging, and we are looking to a further reduction. Now hearing that it could be going the opposite way and increasing is not very comforting at all.”

Barry Kemp, proprietor of A1 Lock & Key, said that as a small business operator he was very concerned. “I’m wondering what the negative impact is going to be,” he added.

“The business community has been enduring the roadworks for so long and now we have a situation where we could end up dealing with higher electricity bills. That is very much a great concern to myself and others. A lot of small businesses like myself are trying to recover from high electricity bills and road works; it’s not a very encouraging or comforting situation.”