The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Power and Light says power has now been fully restored across Abaco after a prolonged outage that stretched into a second day and left residents and business owners counting thousands of dollars in losses.

The company said generation at the Wilson City Power Station was restored at 2.11am yesterday, following hours of load testing on a replacement compressor. Crews then began closing feeders and re-energising communities, with full restoration across mainland Abaco and the cays completed by 3.25am, except for a small pocket of customers in Hope Town and White Sound. Those areas remain offline because of an unrelated cable fault, with specialised equipment being transported to complete repairs.

The update came after widespread frustration from residents in Central and South Abaco, Hope Town and Sweeting Village, many of whom said they endured more than 24 hours without power, repeated service failures, damaged appliances and spoiled food.

Northern Family Island Regional Manager Marvin Green said BPL employees worked around the clock in difficult conditions.

“Our hardworking teams, some of whom have slept at the power plant for the last two days, have given everything they had,” Mr Green said. “Our Field Operations Team on the Distribution side worked through the nights to ensure we could share the little power we had available, even while their own families were in darkness. And our Generation Team never wavered. When one thing failed, they pressed forward. They kept going.”

He said staff shared the emotional toll felt by customers.

“It pains us to see our customers and our families suffer,” he said. “We understand the frustration because we are in the very same boat. I want to publicly thank our teams for their strength and resilience as we continue to ‘Build for Better,’ despite the challenges.”

The company’s statement follows mounting complaints about communication and the length of the outage. Some residents said they received little information before BPL provided a full technical explanation on Wednesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, business owners say the outage has hit at the worst possible time, with the holiday tourism season approaching. Others reported damaged household appliances and daily service disruptions even before this week’s breakdown.

BPL apologised for the inconvenience and thanked customers for their patience, saying crews worked through the night to complete the restoration effort. The company said work is continuing today to restore the remaining customers affected by the cable fault in Hope Town.