Published On:Wednesday, February 02, 2011

By ALISON LOWE

Business Reporter

alowe@tribunemedia.net

With the "fear factor" high among Abaco businesses that they were set to face another "nightmarish" summer of power cuts, the Abaco Chamber of Commerce president yesterday said he was now satisfied that a "serious and genuine focus" has been brought to bear on ensuring a consistent power supply is available to the islands this year.

Michael Albury made this statement as he outlined the impact of months of daily power outages in Abaco last summer.

A "conservative" estimate, said Mr Albury, was that "$3- $4 million" in business for Abaco companies was lost, mainly due to the decision by visitors to shorten or cancel stays in the islands.

Meanwhile, the Public Treasury was estimated by realtors to have taken a "pretty staggering" hit to the tune of $2-$3 million as a result of people who had committed to buying property "backing out" due to concerns over electricity supply availability.

As President of the Chamber of Commerce for Abaco, Mr Albury said he had of late been hearing numerous concerns from the business community that mot enough was being done to make sure the new Wilson City power plant and related technical issues would be dealt with in time to ensure Abaco would not suffer another summer of power problems.

The plant had been scheduled to come on stream in 2010, but has been set back, and to date testing of the generators is ongoing.

Bidding is shortly set to begin on the installation of an upgraded transmission line capable of carrying the requisite amount of power from the new plant to Abaco's residents and businesses. This line is now expected to be in place by May 2010, something which Mr Albury said suggests the issue may have been "seriously overlooked" up until now.

The business community's concern caused Mr Albury to contact the Minister of the Environment, Earl Deveaux, who has responsibility for BEC, to let him know that "a serious situation" was evolving in Abaco, in which the "public was on the verge of speaking out in a group again" about their power concerns - an apparent reference to the demonstration staged against BEC in Abaco last summer.

Dr Deveaux traveled to Abaco on Friday with BEC officials, and gave a presentation to a group of business stakeholders about the status of the power plant and transmission line. Mr Albury said the meeting and Dr Deveaux's statement left him with the impression that the Minister is "seriously and genuinely focused" on ensuring the islands do not face the same problems they did last year.

The Minister outlined the status of generator testing efforts at the plant, the plans for the transmission line upgrade, and gave assurances that if necessary, power can still be supplemented from the older power plants at Marsh Harbour and Sandy Point, Abaco, as the "transition" to Wilson City takes place. He said there will be "no shortage of power" once the new power plant comes on stream.

"I think he has really grasped and emotionally started to feel how this has affected the economy of Abaco," said Mr Albury.

Despite this, Mr Albury said yesterday that it appears some summer business may have already been lost for Abaco's tourism industry as discussions in online forums frequented by repeat visitors have focused on the fact that the power plant is not yet on line, and questions continue to be asked by visitors about whether the power supply will be improved by summer 2011.

"It's too late to avoid some loss of business," said the Chamber president and owner of the Conch Inn Hotel and Marina.

Recent power outages in Abaco, which came about as a result of inadequate controls during testing of the generators at the new plant, "got people on edge" about its status and further fuelled concerns among potential visitors who are keen to know whether they should book an Abaco vacation this year.

"That got everyone riled up. I think the fear factor was pretty high, and I think it still is high until you see work being done on that (transmission) cable," said Mr Albury.

The Chamber president said Abaco is also happy to have received an undertaking from Dr Deveaux that there will be better communication from BEC officials about the status of the Wilson City plant and power generation going forward, with this also being deemed key to ensuring that the islands can minimise business losses going forward.

"When you're asked by your guests: 'How is the new plant coming on' and you have to say: 'Frankly, I don't really know', that does not inspire confidence.

"We want to be able to say: 'Well the cable has been ordered and the contractor's name is Mr Smith...'. If you know things are in progress then people know at that point that it's only a matter of time..." said Mr Albury.