By Natario McKenzie
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) ongoing challenges mean this nation could be “one storm away” from a Puerto Rico-like disaster, a Chamber of Commerce executive warned yesterday.
Debby Deal, head of the chamber’s energy and environment division, told Tribune Business that ongoing load shedding exercises in recent weeks had exposed just how fragile BPL’s existing generation assets and transmission and distribution (T&D) network are.
She expressed concern that a major hurricane could inflict similar devastation on BPL’s energy grid to Hurricane Maria’s 2017 impact on Puerto Rico, which has struggled ever since to fully restore its power network.
Ms Deal described New Providence’s current energy supply situation as “frustrating” for businesses and residents. While BPL’s $95m investment in 132 megawatts (MW) of new generation capacity is set to be installed at its Clifton power plant over the next several months, the utility’s executives have admitted the new engines will not be ready to meet peak summer demand.
“I can only say that it’s been frustrating,” Ms Deal said. “Initially they were saying there wouldn’t be any outages, and then they acknowledged that they continue to have challenges. If they could be consistent with what they’re saying it might be a bit easier for the public.
“If they are load shedding then then they should be fair. Some areas are off for far too long based on what I have heard. We are struggling to meet our energy needs and we’re heading into the warmer summer months and into hurricane season. We’re one storm away from being like Puerto Rico.”
Ms Deal added: “I don’t know how the small businesses are going to make it like this, the hair dressers, the mom and pop stores, the small businesses that don’t have a generator. This kind of thing is really cutting into the business sector. It’ very sad that we have gotten to this stage. How can a lot of our SMEs start and survive if they don’t have constant supply of energy?”
Comments
Clamshell 4 years, 11 months ago
The woman speaks the truth — which means she’ll get a major smackdown from the political leadership who assure us that “Ev’ting is just fine, don’ worry ‘bout nuttin’.”
tom1912 4 years, 11 months ago
Being an old codger also a UK Citizen married to a wonderful Bahamian lady. I'm a Mechanical and Electrical Engineer with an engineering MSc but went thru the mill from an artisan base (rare these days) and worked in the middle east for several years. I read this article with interest, the most common problem with hurricanes in the Caribbean and North America is following the US model of cost saving buy throwing all the power cables and step down transformers on poles. Nassau/ New Providence is hardly rural so burying the power cables in the ground while being a large capital outlay but in the long run would be saving money and the unimaginable cost to the country and its industry of little or no power available for days and weeks never mind the pollution from the many small generators being used. You had an easy time last year but hurricanes are inevitable in your part of the woods, for years to come.
In the good old days in the UK when the supply of power was a social service owned by the taxpayer thru the State ( Before Thatcher) and not a means of lining foreign company's and their share holders pockets at the detriment of the old, less well off, notwithstanding industry in UK, the national grid invested in stand by automatic oil fired power stations local to large conovations to cover peaks in demand during the winter months, the privatised industry saw these as unnecessary capital and maintenance liberties demolished them and sold the land to developers, now there is always worries about load shedding during a bad winter in the UK! The worry things is they are trying to install "smart meters" everywhere, this save sending out meter readers, an estimated readings, the readings being sent by digital signal superimposed over the power cables however the power company can now cut you off remotely so they can be more selective who to load to shed, I'll leave you to ponder wgatbtgat could mean! Regards Tom
joeblow 4 years, 11 months ago
The truth is we have always been one storm away from being like Puerto Rico, but have been too shortsighted to do anything about it. We love to borrow to spend wastefully instead of thinking strategically. But for the grace of God...!
Well_mudda_take_sic 4 years, 11 months ago
We need a Category 10 Hurricane to carry all of our corrupt politicians and the numbers bosses out to sea, never to return.
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