BEC Chairman Leslie Miller
HOW ARE THE BEC POWER CUTS AFFECTING YOU? LET US KNOW HERE.
By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
RESIDENTS across New Providence should expect load shedding until early next week as the Bahamas Electricity Corporation grapples with two major problems, Executive Chairman Leslie Miller said last night.
Mr Miller said BEC had power generation issues at its Blue Hills Power Station and an engine at the Clifton Pier plant is offline until at least Friday for routine maintenance.
This has left BEC with a power generation shortfall of about 10 megawatts, prompting load shedding over the weekend which Mr Miller warned could last until next Monday.
He added that there has been a greater demand for electricity over the weekend, presumably because of hot weather.
Residents in east and west New Providence reported power outages lasting for hours over the weekend, with some complaining of power cuts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“We’re going to be load shedding for a while,” he said last night. “The load today in New Providence was about 205 mega watts to 207 mega watts and we are only producing 195 mega watts right now.”
He added: “This demand has come earlier this year, it is a little hotter. We may be fine during the day but come evening hours we are going to be load shedding until Friday or next week Monday.”
Mr Miller said BEC’s problems were serious.
“We are out 20 mega watts on the combined cycle (engine) at Blue Hills and then at Clifton, one engine isn’t going to be back up before the weekend, it is undergoing normal service.”
He said experts from the United States will be in the capital on Thursday to help repair the engine’s leaky boiler.
Mr Miller also said that poor maintenance of the Clifton Pier Power Plant is partly responsible for the corporation’s electricity provision woes. Claims of poor maintenance at BEC plants have previously put Mr Miller at odds with the unions representing workers at the corporation.
“The problem with Clifton is maintenance,” he said. “We have not been doing proper maintenance on a consistent basis. We experience intermittent problems too often. My biggest complaint is that we don’t do it the way we should. People could argue as much as they please but the facts don’t change. There has to be proper, consistent maintenance every single day since we are dealing with massive generators.”
Mr Miller said incoming generators should help the corporation provide electricity to residents. Last week, he said the first set of rental generators secured for BEC would arrive over the next few days, reducing the chance of blackouts during the summer months. The generators will be rented for about six months at a cost of $8m.
“The generators are just coming in now,” he said yesterday, describing their arrival as “incremental.”
“The one we have now that has arrived can produce about five megawatts of power but it hasn’t gone into the system yet.”
According to Mr Miller, “it will be a rough summer” though he later added that the incoming generators should help the corporation meet the peak demand for electricity.
“(Mega resort) Baha Mar right now uses about seven megawatts of power,” he said. “It is going to take about 16 megawatts of power when it is up and running so the generators coming will help but the demand will go up as well.”
Comments
DonAnthony 8 years, 11 months ago
These incompetent clowns are hindering this country, they have no vision. Costa Rica a small, third world, tourism centric country has for the last 80 days generated 100% of the country's electricity from renewable energy! B.E.C does not generate 1% from renewable energy, so we have load shedding, exorbitant costs, chronic pollution from burning bunker C oil and the list goes on. We need to have vison and start doing things in an intelligent way in this country, we can not afford these dumb, incompetent clowns who are stuck in the last century. Until we generate 1% from renewables Mr. miller should shut the hell up!
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102621070">http://www.cnbc.com/id/102621070
My5Cents 8 years, 11 months ago
So where are our volcanoes and damns? Even the article highlights that this likely unsustainable..not saying we shouldn't move towards it but you make it seem like its so easy when clearly they have natural resource advantages...just as the article states
DonAnthony 8 years, 11 months ago
We have sun, wind, and tidal options, not to mention through the processing of all our garbage, which would help alleviate the dump fires that are poisoning our people and environment. In the case of Costa Rica from the photograph you see a solar farm, we have the sun to produce a large percentage of our energy supply through 100% green, clean renewable energy. My point was not that it is easy, but that we do not even produce 1% from sun, wind, or tidal combined! That is vision less, and frankly irresponsible. We as an ecotourist nation should be like Costa Rica leading the way, rather than being stuck in the stone age with people like Mr. miller who simply offer excuses and very little solution or vision.
My5Cents 8 years, 11 months ago
I could not get that particular article open but i googled other ones and collectively they all mainly spoke of the hydropower...but for right now we need to get a power plant possibly LNG as a short term fix lock in some low prices for oil and then begin to renewable..if it was so easy i think the whole world would be doing it...and where you gonna get the US$ to finance a project this size..government borrowing to bolster reserves now and Bahamians seem opposed to FDI especially if the Chinese come to do it...so i don't see it happening no time soon...but in the meantime we need to do something...I am off the island and the power hasn't cut once...I am dreading coming home this summer to sweat
John 8 years, 11 months ago
Don't panic. Vat returns due. And no power,, no internet to file and when you start the process the power goes off again or you get kicked off the vat server. Welcome to Bahamas 2015. And beyond
John 8 years, 11 months ago
If this government wanted to they could fix the BEC problem. But they seem to want to let it drag on until someone is killed or seriously injured with the power going off and on like a Christmas tree. And the FNM did not fare any better than the present government because they seem to employ stop-gap measures rather than finding a long term fix. Apparently one of their 'tricks' was to disconnect overdue customers when the load got too heavy, Remember those days when they would come around and disconnect you every two weeks. some persons got so faustrated they decided to leave their power off and learnt to live in the dark and the heat of the night. Some SIX THOUSAND BAHAMIAN FAMILIES. A number of business had to shut down because the lights being shut off every two weeks killed their business. NOW even the customer paying on time can't get no light. Even as the dump still burns!
duppyVAT 8 years, 11 months ago
The question is: Who is benefiting by keeping BEC as a bunkerC/diesel plant?????? Who in the political elite.............. besides Snake/FOCOL ............... has large contracts with BEC????
THAT IS THE CRUX OF THE MATTER.
licks2 8 years, 11 months ago
THE ELITE KEEPS IT THAT WAY TO PROTECT THEIR "INCOME"! NOW THIS GOVERNMENT SAYING THAT THEY WILL OWN 51% OF THE NEW TELEPHONE COMPANY COMING UP!!! THESE FOOLS ARE GOING TO CAUSE SOME OTHER FOOL GET ONE BIG STICK AND LICK SOMEONE UP SIDE THEY HEAD!!!
PERRY THEM MUST SMELL THE TIMES. . .WE IN CHARGE HERE DUDES. . . YALL KEEPING ON DOING THIS MESS WILL CAUSE A SERIOUS REVOLT IN THIS PLACE!!!
DR MYLES MUNROE PREDICTED THAT THEY WAS GOING TO BE DOING SOME MUCH THINGS THAT WE WOULD NOT BELIEVE OUR EYES AND EARS!! BOYS WAS HE RIGHT. . . THIS GOVERNMENT IS IN A TOTAL FREE FALL WITH NO HOPE OF CATCHING ITSELF!!!
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