Brownouts, blackouts and fried equipment continue to plague Abaco, with one store owner Monday saying business had fallen 50 per cent because of the power issues, while one hardware store said commerce was flowing because of it.

Peter Bradley said his company, Conch Pearl Gallery, had lost half its business because of the consistent power cuts across the island, as tourists - his biggest customers - peer into the darkened store and subsequently leave.

According to Mr Bradley, the power outages can go on for three to four hours at a time, and because the building, where three other businesses have rented out space, has no back-up generator, the frequent daily losses are mounting.

As he spoke to Tribune Business by phone Monday, the power in his store was out and "someone just looked in and left".

Mr Bradley said that while the power outages are an annual summer menace, the cuts seems to be much worse this year. And they seem to be hurting Abaco's tourism industry far more than previous years.

"We simply are not seeing the tourists," he said. "They are not wanting to come, so second home owners who come two and three times a year are coming once. I don't know if it's the power cuts or the economy. But there have been a lot complaints (by tourists)."

A hardware store employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said while BEC's power cuts have been hard on their equipment, it has brought business in for the store.

According to the employee, they have seen and had to replace many burnt refrigerator circuit boards and fan motors.

"It is terrible," said the employee. "It is hard on the equipment and it doesn't go off on a snap; it goes off on a gradual slope, which is bad for equipment and makes me work my equipment hard."

General Manager of Bellevue Business Depot, Timothy Sands, said his business has also seen the consequences of the blackouts and brownouts, with fried office equipment coming in frequently to be repaired or replaced. He said they themselves have had to replace thousands of dollars worth of equipment because of it.

And while Bellevue is fortunate enough to have a back-up generator to weather the outages, Mr Sands said fuel and generator maintenance costs are mounting for the store.

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