BEC Chairman Leslie Miller
By SANCHESKA BROWN
Tribune Staff Reporter
sbrown@tribunemedia.net
THE Bahamas Electricity Corporation will continue load shedding across New Providence indefinitely, according to the company’s Executive Chairman Leslie Miller.
Mr Miller told The Tribune four engines, three at Clifton Pier and one at Blue Hills, failed yesterday morning causing a generation shortage of between 40 to 50 megawatts.
Mr Miller said the corporation had brought in three specialists from Fort Lauderdale to assess the problems and he has “no idea” when the load shedding will end.
In the meantime, he said, the corporation will continue to load shed across the capital, with businesses being asked to run their generators to ensure homeowners stay connected.
“We are having major problems. We are short about 50 megawatts, which means the demand is not significantly higher than the supply. We have Paradise Island using their generators to help us and we flew some people in from Fort Lauderdale to look at two of the engines,” Mr Miller said.
“We are shutting down business places in the evenings to ensure that homeowners stay on. So we will be turning off banks, government buildings and corporations at night and load shed in the day with homeowners. So no homeowners are expected to be off in the evening – but you never know what could happen.
“When you fix one thing, another thing goes wrong. So until we get those engines up, the electricity will be up and down and unfortunately at this time I don’t know for how long. We need new engines. These people can play whatever games they want and sit in whatever meeting but the point is at this time we do not have the capacity to satisfy the demand and we are in big trouble. I apologise now in advance but homeowners should be fine in the evenings.”
BEC has been plagued with power outages for several months and Mr Miller said this is the “worst he has ever seen it.”
Last week, he said without a new power plant, which will cost about $200 million, the country will continue to be plagued by outages that will worsen when Baha Mar, the mega resort at Cable Beach, is added to the grid next year.
Yesterday, customers in eastern and southern New Providence complained of having their power disrupted from late Wednesday night into yesterday. Lightning and generator trips have been blamed for the frequent power cuts.
The latest major outage occurred last week and BEC said they were experiencing “challenges on its generation network” .
That outage came after residents in four settlements on Andros were without electricity for nearly 15 and a half hours earlier this month.
BEC spokeswoman Arnette Ingraham told The Tribune recently that BEC is “working hard” to resolve their challenges and that the corporation is committed to minimising “the frequency of outages for customers in Nassau and the Family Islands.”
Comments
bahamalove 9 years, 7 months ago
Mr. Miller, in my opinion I think the BEC Union is even more pissed off that you were reappointed as Chairman and have amped up their efforts to try and get rid of you or at the least, make you look bad. These outages are just occurring to frequently now and I can't believe that our electrical workers are that incompetent in keeping the power on. The American consultants will soon be able to afford to retire in Lyford Cay with the amount of consultancy money we are paying them. But stay strong my brother; don't let the Unions cause our Country to go the way of Greece!
BoopaDoop 9 years, 7 months ago
Please limit the load shedding to 2 hours if you must. I am confident that you can get the generators up and running again. I don't believe the rumours that B.E.C. has fuel payment problems.
TalRussell 9 years, 7 months ago
BEC only has maybe 6 engines up and running at any one time. With four engines, three at Clifton Pier and one at Blue Hills having failed (again) yesterday morning causing a 'generation' shortage of between 40 to 50 megawatts (in street language means ya lights was off like 16 times yesterday - for up 2 1/2 hours. What's next when the last two half ass running generators cut off, even if the Comrade Charmain Pot cake does have he own backyard backup generator, it ain't like he wants you be plugging ya extension cords into his? What in hell is a 'generation' lights out shortage?
ChaosObserver 9 years, 7 months ago
Such Bull Sh*.....was out today from 10:30 to 5:00...at our home! Guess we need to bring a law suit against them to get them to get their sh together.....
lightsout 9 years, 7 months ago
Lost a fridge and central air in today's power surge! Thanks BEC, we can always count on you to LET US DOWN, AGAIN and AGAIN!! Stand up people! Don't sit quietly and accept the crap they call service. Make your voices heard because we deserve better! Now, who's going to buy me a new fridge and air condu? Oh, that's right, I have to go buy it my damn self and hope i can save enough to buy them before VAT come in.
B_I_D___ 9 years, 7 months ago
You can put in a claim...but well...you know how that goes!!
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 7 months ago
Christie, Miller, Gibson and the PLP government would have us believe the root cause of BEC's problems are the labour unions. But this is for the most part utter hogwash. Truth be told, the education (school system) policies of Christie (and the PLP) and Ingraham (and the FNM) alike are the root cause of all of BEC's problems today. These corrupt politicians have left BEC with no choice but to hire grade D- employees and equally dumb political appointees as the old better trained and qualified guard have retired. Our best and brightest Bahamians who are lucky enough to receive a private education and study abroad to become electrical and mechanical engineers do not return to the Bahamas to fill engineering positions at BEC as they rightfully have no desire to have their lives and professional careers frustrated by D- employees and equally dumb political appointees. BEC is also no longer able to fill the Bahamian talent void with affordable expat engineers because of the crime situation in our country. All of this has led to an incompetent management team at BEC that will never be able to manage the unmanageable and unqualified baboons that now operate very complex and expensive computerized turbine generators. When you give a baboon a wrench to fix something, the baboon is guaranteed to swing it and break something that will put the lights out! Decades ago the PLP with the agitation and support of people like Sean McWeeney gave Loftus Roker a mandate to drive most expat teachers, engineers, etc. out of the country, almost overnight. Pindling and McWeeney wanted new "dummy" voters for generations to come that could be easily manipulated by a ruling political elite. Well, just look what road that has got us on today.....THE ROAD TO DARKNESS!!!!
TalRussell 9 years, 7 months ago
Comrade love it....The road to darkness....but the red Torch cannot be the only answer?
B_I_D___ 9 years, 7 months ago
Nor can the green light at the crossroads...
paul_vincent_zecchino 9 years, 7 months ago
Your post reminds us again. to understand the present, look backward. Exactly as you say, forty or more years ago many expressed concern about the 'mandate' to drive qualified people out of the country; trained hoteliers, concierges, so on so forth. The consequences were not hard to foresee.
Forty years ago the MOB coveted the Bahamas as did the communists, particularly castro's goons, along with their drug running pals.
In manner of a busted toilet, the Left brought up the same old stuff, pitting one against the other, fomenting resentments against anyone qualified and/or successful in their field, in order to create a permanent underclass which always would vote Left.
By sheer coincidence, leftist Lyndon Baines Johnson and Teddy Kennedy pushed the same initiatives stateside, with equally dismal results.
Spent some time last week photographing the New Providence skyline, particularly looking south and west from the hills overlooking the harbor. Wondered what it was that seemed 'off' in addition to the spectacular waves of rain which washed thru on Wednesday morning. Of course, the familiar exhaust plumes from Clifton Pier and Blue Hills Power Stations seemed at times conspicuous by their absence. This article and your post in particular well explain why.
Reality_Check 9 years, 7 months ago
Miller certainly fits the bill of a Chief Baboon!
NoNoNo 9 years, 7 months ago
One big mess.
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nassaudaddy 9 years, 7 months ago
The answer to the whole BEC fiasco is get rid of the incompetence. We have a totally incompetent PM who is afraid to act on any important issue facing our country and he keeps putting his incompetent cronies who gets absolutely nothing done, and on the backside of that reappoints them. Leslie Miller has no idea of what the HELL he's doing and keeps trying to make make himself look good. Put people in place that can solve the problem,and that includes all the ministries. In my opinion they all need to be taken to the Fort in their jockey shorts and whipped
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