The Tribune

By FAY SIMMONS

TRIBUNE Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

A FORMER Abaco Chamber of Commerce president says The Bahamas must move more aggressively to expand solar energy and require major developments to generate more of their own electricity if it hopes to end recurring power outages,

Daphne DeGregory-Miaoulis, proprietor of Abaco Neem, said successive administrations have failed to adequately address the country's growing energy needs, leaving businesses and residents to cope with recurring outages.

"The Government needs to get really serious about alternative energy and making it as affordable as possible," she said. "Administration after administration, year after year, we face these same challenges. Whatever we're doing clearly isn't enough."

Her comments come after Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) reported multiple outages across south and central Abaco and the cays over the past week, disrupting businesses and residents. The utility has attributed the interruptions to faults on its network and equipment failures, with several areas experiencing repeated outages before power was restored.

Mrs DeGregory-Miaoulis said The Bahamas must shift from reacting to power failures to planning for future demand, beginning with greater investment in renewable energy across both the public and private sectors.

"They need to do everything they can to solarise our public services. Start with the Prime Minister's Office. Let it have a full array of solar panels and batteries. Be the example," she added.

Mrs DeGregory-Miaoulis also called on the Government to remove taxes on renewable energy equipment to encourage wider adoption. “Make anything related to solar and alternative energy duty-free and VAT-free so people can actually afford it. Solar refrigerators, solar stoves, solar air conditioning, solar water heaters - make those things accessible,” she added.

Mrs DeGregory-Miaoulis said homeowners should also have easier access to reliable information on renewable energy.

"There should be a resource portal where the average homeowner can find information about solar, along with a list of licensed Bahamian companies that can install these systems. People shouldn't have to become experts just to figure out how to put solar on their home,” she said. "We have to stop being reactive and start being proactive. Give citizens the knowledge and the tools they need."

Mrs DeGregory-Miaoulis argued that the country's expanding tourism and development sectors are placing increasing pressure on an electricity system that is already struggling to meet existing demand.

"It's obvious that whatever we're doing is still not sufficient to manage the businesses we already have, let alone all the new developments that continue to come on stream," she said.

"When these new developments, negotiate Heads of Agreement. I think they should be required to generate a percentage of their own electricity through alternative energy. Solar street lighting, battery storage; whatever reduces the demand on BPL.

"If those developments can meet more of their own energy needs, and even feed excess power back into the grid, that's a plus for everybody. We're the ones who end up suffering the load shedding and the inadequacies while trying to support all this new development."

Mrs DeGregory-Miaoulis added that reliable electricity is critical to maintaining The Bahamas' reputation as a tourism destination. "When visitors come to stay at these resorts and they don't have reliable electricity, it makes them think twice about coming back. That's not good for tourism,” she said.

Mrs DeGregory-Miaoulis also said long-term energy planning must account for the effects of climate change and rising electricity demand.

"Climate change isn't going away. It's only going to get worse. So we can't just plan for today's energy demand; we have to plan for tomorrow, next year and the years after that,” she said.

"Think about the schools. Think about the hospitals. Do they have enough back-up power to support children, the elderly and people who are sick? Those are the critical areas that need to be addressed."

Molly McIntosh, general manager of Bluff House Beach Resort & Marina on Green Turtle Cay, also said the property experienced several days of outages last week before service stabilised.

"It seems the problem has been resolved now because, as of yesterday, we've had steady power," said Mrs McIntosh. "Before that it was going off and on. I think they were doing some load shedding because of an issue somewhere on the system. We were without electricity for several days last week, so it definitely created challenges for the resort, but thankfully things appear to have stabilised."