The Tribune

“THERE will be an end to load shedding,” declared Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) chairman Dr Donovan Moxey in December as the new Wartsila engines were unveiled. How many of us believed him?

Certainly, the president of the electrical union didn’t – saying soon after that load shedding would still occasionally happen.

And here we are again, with BPL racing to try to ensure we won’t have yet another summer plagued by blackouts and frustration.

The heart of the problem this time is the need to cool the newly installed engines at Clifton Pier. BPL decided to dig four 800ft wells as the solution. The makers of the engines, Wartsila, urged BPL not to do that but BPL pressed on regardless. They now find themselves struggling to dig through the rock which has turned out to be harder than expected.

So far, BPL has only dug half of the depth needed on two of the four wells. Drill bits have broken, only two of the Wartsila engines are online as BPL tries to figure out a solution – and it turns out that the water from the wells may be too polluted from years of oil spills to be of any use anyway.

As time runs out, BPL has ordered an alternative radiator system – which is the solution Wartsila suggested in the first place. Add that extra cost to whatever has been spent on the drilling solution and it appears BPL might as well try and figure out a way of generating electricity by burning money.

BPL appears to be running out of time, and the Bahamian people will be running out of patience.

Last year, BPL promised it would be the last summer of load shedding. At the time, many of us swallowed our pain in a bitter bargain – we would regretfully accept the power failings as long as it was the last time. It was the last chance for BPL. They are now out of last chances.

We’ve already had load shedding this month – after “technical difficulties” at the Clifton Pier plant led to manual load shedding on February 7.

That BPL also wants to start adding an extra charge to people’s bills to pay for refinancing – a loan they haven’t even taken out yet – means there is no more sympathy for BPL. It either does the job it’s supposed to or those in charge need to answer for the failure.

It will have a political cost too – the FNM’s fate, for good or for ill, is bound up in the ability to provide a regular, dependable power supply.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has already launched his re-election campaign – if every event is haunted by the question “Why is the power still going off?” then he may well have to kiss his hopes of a second term goodbye. Certainly the fate of the minister whose portfolio BPL falls under, Minister of Works Desmond Bannister, will be up in the air if the company fails to deliver on its promise of an end to load shedding. He has warned that everything has to be in place with regard to the cooling system by May to meet the peak summer electricity demand. He says he is “fully confident” a solution will be in place by the summer – though it appears he’s not sure which solution that will be.

Last month, Dr Moxey admitted that the company had “lost the trust of most of our consumers”. It’s true. And waking up to today’s reports that BPL faces another battle to be ready for summer is not the way to restore that trust.

Indeed, when contacted about the concerns yesterday, Dr Moxey didn’t help to rebuild trust when he said that some of the things reported to The Tribune were not correct, while declining to identify what those were and saying “I’m not going to respond to any of it”. Really, Dr Moxey? Is that how you rebuild the faith of your customers?

After all the promises, after all the pain, after all the talk of an extra payment, this needs to come to an end. BPL must sort this out once and for all. It isn’t negotiable.