BPL targets ‘quicker response’ to Family Island power outages

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS POWER & Light’s (BPL) chief executive yesterday pledged that the utility is investing in new equipment to ensure there is a “quicker response time” to Family Island power outages.

Shevonn Cambridge, acknowledging the challenges that BPL has endured with load shedding and outages on multiple Family Islands over the past month, told Tribune Business that the power cuts endured by Eleuthera resulted solely from a generator outage.

“We had a failure on one of our large units out of Hatchet Bay. But since then we have returned that unit, and another unit that was also out for maintenance at the time. We’ve returned both of them. All of the units at Hatchet Bay are now operable,” he said, while seeking to reassure that all Family Island generation concerns have been addressed.

“In Cat Island, there have been weather-related outages but there haven’t been any plant-related issues,” Mr Cambridge added. “On the Family Islands, especially when you have these electrical storms, for miles and miles the only thing standing up is our pole, and lightning finds its way to the ground. So they get hit from time to time.

“Most of our power stations are in the middle of the island, with one feeder going north and another feeder going south. If the south feeder gets hit, the entire south goes out. Now we are making some investments in things like auto-reclosers and stuff like that. We’re leveraging the technology to make our response time quicker.”

Mr Cambridge said BPL’s network frequently suffers 20-second power cuts, where power is disrupted for a short period of time before it reconnects. He added that this happens multiple times per day across all islands. The autoreclosers will ensure that if one fails, another will kickin. If both fail, BPL will then have to dispatch linemen and bucket trucks to physically visit the affected site and address the issue.

Stable, consistent electricity supply has been an issue for many Family Island resorts which have been losing guests as a result of visitor stays becoming uncomfortable when air conditioning and refrigeration is knocked out.

Mr Cambridge, meanwhile, confirmed that the contaminated oil provided by Sun Oil for BPL’s North Andros power plant is being investigated. “The water was drained from the tanks immediately once it was discovered. So we now have fuel that we can use. I think the investigation has determined what was the source of the contamination,” he added.