As the newly formed Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) stares down the barrel of its first summer, Bahamas Electrical Utility Managerial Union (BEUMU) President Clinton Minnis is contending that the utility is likely not up to the challenge, and might have to bring in even more rented power.
In April 2015, the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) - BPL's parent company - rented equipment that would provide an additional 40 megawatts of power from Aggreko - the world's largest temporary power generation company. The cost given at the time was $8 million for six months.
Then BEC Executive Chairman Leslie Miller said that with Baha Mar fully on BEC's grid, he was "not sure" if the 40 megawatts of power the generators would provide would be "enough".
Now, more than a year later - with the Aggreko rental units still in service - Minnis told Guardian Business yesterday, "The corporation is not quite ready for the summer demand at this time.
"As you know, the public would have been experiencing, intermittently, outages, and we are dealing with the same equipment, that is sometimes behind on maintenance, that needs tweaking, that is not ready for the pressure and the heat that comes with the summer load and demand," he said.
Minnis pointed out that BEC is already pumping out more than 200 megawatts per day, almost the 240 megawatts traditionally used as a benchmark for peak demand.
"When we get to August, it's going to be crazy," he said, adding that the corporation is "actively considering" whether to rent more power.
"The decision-makers need to make the decision, because our system - our capacity - is being challenged. The summer months are already here, even in May, and it seems to be a challenge even now," he said.
Minnis explained that over the past five years, approximately 240 megawatts - that is 240 million watts of power - has been the maximum peak load that BEC produced in summer months.
"If we are at 213 or thereabouts now, and we are three months away from the hottest period in the summer, which is the middle of August, we are challenged. So even with the rental equipment that we have now - 40 million watts of rental equipment that we have had for a year or so - we are still challenged.
"So, when you look at it, the age of the equipment, the challenges we have... we may have the capacity, we can't produce. So... while we have the capacity, because of the challenges with our equipment, we cannot meet the demand; therefore the need to source more rental equipment may be the answer in the interim," Minnis said.
Hill, business plan
Minnis meanwhile said BPL CEO Pam Hill "hit the ground running".
"She has met with both union leaders; she has met with our executive officers; she has met with the management team; she has met with the staff of BPL, and she has a sense of what is going on, on the ground and what needs to be done. I believe she'll be up to speed very shortly," he said.
"It's going to be interesting how she fares during the summer months. We're looking forward to working with her, and we have made that commitment to her."
Minnis said Hill has shared parts of the BPL business plan with staff.
"The business plan has several layers that will be of concern, and the staff and the public was waiting to hear this. The business plan, as indicated, will be focused on customer care, and that is very important. How do we respond to consumer needs? Meaning how much prevention we can have to minimize your outages. Reliability, that's a problem we're having with load shedding. If the machines are not available and the demand is in, you're going to have load shedding."
Cost-effective operations and a development plan that could take up to three years and would see machines replaced at the more expensive, but more reliable Blue Hills plant - together with safety and training concerns, or "right-fitting the organization so that we get the best people doing the best things" - make up other significant areas addressed in the plan.
K. Quincy Parker, Guardian Business Editor
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