Power struggle on Abaco

[patw]

This is from BahamasPundit, Larry Smith who writes for a Nassau newspaper and has his own blog.



Power Struggle on Abaco a Reflection of Larger National Issues


by Larry Smith

BEC is more than a dirty word on Abaco these days.

For months during the busiest and hottest season of the year, the state-owned utility has been unable to provide steady power for the country's third largest economy. This has led to rising anger among the island's 15,000 residents as well as bitter complaints from departing tourists.

Craig Roberts, owner of the Bahama Beach Club in Treasure Cay, said customers were demanding refunds, with some saying they would not return. Peggy Thompson of Hope Town Hideaways, a property management business, said many guests had to either move to cottages with a generator, or were giving up and demanding their money back.

"BEC has effectively ruined our tourist season and that will reverberate for the next several summers. Our visitors are very angry and leaving," one resident told me. "We don't get any information from BEC on anything. They do not want to talk. Everything is referred to Nassau.

The power cuts have been ongoing since May, almost daily and often for as long as eight or 10 hours at a time - occasionally up to 13 hours. And until last week, when the prime minister raised the matter in Parliament, BEC has had little to say about them.
"These interruptions are a problem Abaco is all too familiar with and one that BEC is actively working to improve," the corporation said in a press statement issued last Friday. "The present challenges are due to faults that developed on a few generators, coupled with a shortage of lubricating oil."

But behind that soothing tone lies a disturbing reality. Sources on Abaco say the oil shortage was due to BEC's inability to approve pre-payment for suppliers who are refusing to extend credit to the financially troubled corporation. The latest scuttlebutt is that Shell, which holds the current BEC fuel contract, is owed some $40 million by the corporation.

Last Thursday, BEC had to airlift - presumably at great cost - six 55-gallon drums of lube oil into Marsh Harbour prior to the prime minister's visit on Saturday. This is despite the fact that a local supplier was willing to provide the oil but insisted on a purchase order first.

According to a well-placed BEC source, "literally all hell broke loose at the old plant in Murphy Town on June 13. It is possible the lube oil run-out is reflective of gross negligence on someone's part as suggested by the PM, but there are other possibilities such as late delivery from the supplier, or non-payment to the supplier for prior shipments resulting in a longer than normal delivery time. Many suppliers are now requiring BEC to make advance payment for goods and services because of the corporation's financial situation."

The source also referred to stories circulating in Marsh Harbour that BEC wouldn't fix the old generators because they were waiting for the new $105 million Wilson City power plant to come on stream.

"We are working to get a 1.6 MW unit that has been out for more than a year, as well as two 1.6 MW units that have been out since the fire that destroyed associated switchgear six months ago, back in service," the source told me earlier this month. "A prior reluctance to fix generators in the existing station may be one reason why those engines were sitting idle following the fire."

Meanwhile, the timeline for bringing the new Wilson City plant on stream has been steadily pushed back from the original date of last April. BEC likes to blame the environmentalist opposition to the new plant for this debacle.

According to last Friday's press statement: "Delays and adjustments to the project, initially arising from an injunction being filed to stop construction, as well as subsequent, ongoing litigation challenges and other considerations have resulted in the new plant not yet producing power."

There were three major components to the Wilson City project - a 48 megawatt fossil fuel power plant, a two-mile pipeline from a new fuel terminal in the Bight of Old Robinson, and 20 miles of new transmission lines to supply electricity to the Marsh Harbour grid. A Salvadoran construction company was subcontracted by MAN Diesel of Canada to build the plant and construction began last September.

After plans to use heavy fuel oil were scrapped earlier this year due to pollution concerns, BEC decided to truck diesel oil to the new plant from the port at Marsh Harbour - so the pipeline was cancelled. There are storage facilities for 2.5 million gallons of fuel at the new plant and observers say about 20,000 gallons a day are needed to operate the new plant. This means hundreds of four-hour tanker truck round trips to fill the storage tanks as well as regular ongoing deliveries to keep them supplied.

BEC has been indicating that one of the new generators will be put online soon. But it was only last week that the Wilson City plant was connected to the Marsh Harbour distribution system for start-up and testing procedures. However, since the contractors need about I MW of steady power to begin testing, it is hard to see how this can happen under the present chaotic circumstances.

On top of that is the fact that the transmission lines from the new plant to Marsh Harbour still have to be upgraded, as they are not heavy enough to take all the new power. However, experts say the existing lines should be able to handle the output from a single generator.

Another critical component is a dedicated communications link from the new plant's control room to the existing plant's control room. This is for coordinating the testing and connection of the new generator. Experts say that bringing a 12 MW generator online must be carefully handled or it will destroy half the electrical items in Marsh Harbour.

So while BEC scrambles to bring one of the four new generators at Wilson City on stream to help resolve their immediate difficulties, completion of the entire project is probably a year behind schedule.

HISTORY
BEC operates 29 generating plants around the country. Installed capacity on New Providence is around 340 MW, with another 100 MW distributed across plants on the family islands. Demand for electricity is growing at 3-5 per cent a year.

The installed generating capacity on Abaco is about 30 MW, comprised of many small units, not all of which are working. Peak demand has been around 19 MW recently, but the difficulties experienced by BEC - and the privately owned Grand Bahama Power Company - in meeting rising demand on our three most populated islands is cause for great concern in terms of the country's economic future.

The original commercial utility on Abaco was Marsh Harbour Power & Light, started in the 1950s by local businessmen Chris Roberts and Lucien Stratton when the island first began to develop. In the late 1960s this operation was acquired by an American engineer named Phil Ferrar, who renamed it Abaco Electric.

Private power stations were also set up on Man o' War Cay by Vernon Albury, on Green Turtle Cay by Bill Elden, at Cooper's Town by Joe Sawyer, at Crossing Rocks by Frank Hepburn, and at Treasure Cay. Grand Cay was supplied by the developers of Walker's Cay. Elbow Cay was supplied by Abaco Electric.

All of these operations were gradually acquired by BEC, beginning with Cooper's Town in 1975. The main utility - Abaco Electric - was acquired in 1987, when the owner was operating on a year-to-year franchise.

"I don't know of any private producers that wanted to get out of the business," one oldtimer told me. "They would have stayed on if they could have gotten better franchise terms. My recollection is that government pushed the issue of nationalization. But some systems were marginal in terms of infrastructure, so perhaps this consolidation by BEC was necessary."

People often point to the success of the privately owned Spanish Wells power company when discussing these matters. But that company provides power for a single affluent community. And although by most accounts it is super efficient, it nevertheless charges a much higher rate than BEC's out island rate, which is subsidised by consumers in Nassau.

On Abaco, it is unlikely that private operators would have invested in expanding their systems into remote communities. Each operator serviced his particular area and expanded into nearby areas where there were sufficient paying customers. But BEC services all these communities - except for the predominately expatriate village of Little Harbour, which is powered by solar panels with backup generators.

That is, of course, the main argument for a public utility. But BECs bureaucratic and uncommunicative approach to its customers, its amazing operational inefficiencies, union featherbedding and financial irresponsibility are more than enough to justify a major overhaul and rethink of this state corporation.

[trubahamian]

The last paragraph accurately sums up ANY GOVERNMENT owned and operated service anywhere in the world.

Trust them and let them do more and soon you will have nothing.

[SamFamAustin]

We are working to get a 1.6 MW unit that has been out for more than a year, as well as two 1.6 MW units that have been out since the fire that destroyed associated switchgear six months ago, back in service," the source told me earlier this month.

Thanks for the article, PatW. That's exactly why you have the situation with rolling blackouts like you do today.

The status of Wilson City seems even more remote, as they haven't even laid cable to the distribution facility yet, and can only - maybe - test one of the 4 new generators.

What a boondoggle!

[patw]

Ya think BEC will reimburse us for the over $500.00 we have paid for diesel the past month for our generator???
BEC has a number that you can call to get your current bill. Mine was $300.00 for June. My sister in law was out to Guana so she said she would go by BEC and pay the bill for us to save us a trip. She had my $300.00 for the bill and they told her that we still owed $37.00. The $37.00 was for the tariff that went into effect on July 1st! They can wait for my $37.00!

[patw]

I found this in one of the newspapers from yesterday, I had to laugh. Our power is off right now!!!

http://www.jonesbahamas.com/news/45/...010-07-28.html

[Patty&Rudi]

Originally Posted by trubahamian

the last paragraph accurately sums up any government owned and operated service anywhere in the world.

trust them and let them do more and soon you will have nothing.

exactly!!

[SamFamAustin]

Originally Posted by patw

Ya think BEC will reimburse us for the over $500.00 we have paid for diesel the past month for our generator???
BEC has a number that you can call to get your current bill. Mine was $300.00 for June. My sister in law was out to Guana so she said she would go by BEC and pay the bill for us to save us a trip. She had my $300.00 for the bill and they told her that we still owed $37.00. The $37.00 was for the tariff that went into effect on July 1st! They can wait for my $37.00!

Just for grins, what was a normal monthly payment over the last few years when the power was "mostly" on?

[patw]

Ok, we have a small one bedroom, two story house. We have a small a/c downstairs that we turn off at night and a larger a/c upstairs. Now with that being said, in past summers, we averaged about $150.00. In the winter months, we average about $50.00.

Originally Posted by SamFamAustin

Just for grins, what was a normal monthly payment over the last few years when the power was "mostly" on?

[Island State of Mind]

This situation is so incredibly frustrating!! Especially since it impacts many aspects of your life there... livelihood, personal comfort and now the pocketbook.
Again... GRRRR!!!!

[Tingum]

Take everyone at BEC that wears a white shirt and FIRE THEM!!!!!

[Tree]

someone needs to make sure that those making the decisions are out of power like the rest of us..ya think

[Long Look]

Whats the deal with import duty on solar panels? One would think with the issues they have been having that the duty would be low to none, but then again most likely not.

Right now is a fantastic time to buy solar panels as the competition is extreme. Manufacturers are selling them at less than the cost to manufacture. If you're spending $500 on diesel in addition to $300 for the BEC bill, the pay off may be fairly quick, especially considering the fact that your power will be ON.

There is little incentive in the states to use solar power as our cost of electricity is so low and our uptime is so high, it seems Abaco has the opposite.

Just my thoughts.

[Blue Moon Cottage]

any updates on power ? on / off fixed repaired? comments from the Government?

[patw]

Power hasn't been a problem on Guana since last Thursday. I don't know about the rest of the Cays.

[gazeboman]

Originally Posted by patw

Power hasn't been a problem on Guana since last Thursday. I don't know about the rest of the Cays.

FIGURES The day I leave the island they fix the power

[vharrison]

Spanish Wells has one of the best power companies in the Bahamas.

[boatbum]

I asked then what the 36 hour outage was for but have not received a response. Duh.

[Local Knowledge]

I have been monitoring the voltage for the last 2 1/2 months, I have seen 126 and I have seen 98. Typical was 122+/- in the early AM then dropping as the day progressed (higher demand) to about 108+/- in the middle of the day then slowly climing back up at night to the high teens. There were good days (few and far between) and a lot of bad days when the voltage was stupid low all day. This past Sunday (8/08) at about 5:00 AM my bedroom fan speeded up - big time. The voltage has been a steady 125 since then. I suspect somthing was fixed and put back on line. 'bout time is all I have to say.

LK.

[patw]

I noticed that too on Sunday at about 5 am. Our A/C speeded up and it didn't last too long, thank goodness.

Originally Posted by Local Knowledge

I have been monitoring the voltage for the last 2 1/2 months, I have seen 126 and I have seen 98. Typical was 122+/- in the early AM then dropping as the day progressed (higher demand) to about 108+/- in the middle of the day then slowly climing back up at night to the high teens. There were good days (few and far between) and a lot of bad days when the voltage was stupid low all day. This past Sunday (8/08) at about 5:00 AM my bedroom fan speeded up - big time. The voltage has been a steady 125 since then. I suspect somthing was fixed and put back on line. 'bout time is all I have to say.

LK.

[patw]

Boy, power went off really badly a little while ago. Its back on now. Anyone else experience that on the other Cays?? I knew I shouldn't have mentioned the power!

[patw]

Tourism minister on Abaco power woes




Published On:Tuesday, August 10, 2010
By CHESTER ROBARDS
Business Reporter
crobards@tribunemedia.net
THE MINISTER of Tourism and Aviation told Tribune Business yesterday he is confident that Abaco’s attractiveness as a destination will not be superseded by its recent two-month power woes which flattened the island’s tourism product.
Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace said while the good news is that the power outages on the island have been corrected with the introduction of three new generators, he suggested there is no public relations fix for the problem that drove a mass of tourists off the island and kept many more away for almost two months.
Mr Vanderpool-Wallace said there has been a specific case from the island where wedding parties booked have had to be turned away because of the inconsistencies in power transmission.
“We understand those specific cases,” he said.
According to him, this troubling tourism period for the island has been nothing except the “a bad period with regard to power”.
However, when the smoke cleared, some resort owners were said they had lost $100,000 in cancellations and another $100,000 in refunds.
Mr Vanderpool-Wallace said his office has heard from a number of resort property owners in Abaco who say they are taking their losses up with the Bahamas Electricity Corporation.
Some Abaco businesses told this paper recently that brownouts, blackouts and fried equipment cost their businesses to decrease by 50 per cent. On the other hand, one hardware store said commerce was flowing because of it.
And though some businesses were able to stay in business by use of generators, one generator user said the cost to fuel those generators was far more per hour than using BEC’s supply.
Tom Hazel, general manager of the Hope Town Lodge, said he was concerned that the hurricane supply of diesel recently bought for his property’s 1,000 kilowatt generator, would be depleted because of the power cuts.
Mr Hazel said while the power cuts were extremely vexing for his guests, he saw some returns as those tourists who were not leaving Hope Town flocked to his establishment when the power cuts robbed them of the ability to cook themselves a meal. However, those power cuts seem to be coming to an end with the addition of the generators, while the electric utility pushes forward on the completion of a new power plant expected to be operational by year end.

[Patti Puzo]

If only rhetoric and passifications could be turned into a viable fuel source....

[SamFamAustin]

Not making a statement, but now that the summer season is rolling down, the timing sure wasn't very opportune. Seems like the poor electricity affected both the Snow Bird and Summer Vacation seasons. Shops are already closing in the Bahamas, to reopen in October or November.

It's a little different Stateside, with a few weekends left of summer - hard to believe time went that fast. By the day after Labor Day (US), we will be a ghost town again. The college kids are already making plans to leave their summer jobs. I like the off-season myself, but there's no business at all except for where us locals hang out.

Oh well, it sounds like the power situation is on the mend, and the Big Kahuna should be online by the New Year, when the cruisers and winter Snow Birds arrive once again. -sam

[trubahamian]

Originally Posted by SamFamAustin

Not making a statement, but now that the summer season is rolling down, the timing sure wasn't very opportune. Seems like the poor electricity affected both the Snow Bird and Summer Vacation seasons. Shops are already closing in the Bahamas, to reopen in October or November.

It's a little different Stateside, with a few weekends left of summer - hard to believe time went that fast. By the day after Labor Day (US), we will be a ghost town again. The college kids are already making plans to leave their summer jobs. I like the off-season myself, but there's no business at all except for where us locals hang out.

Oh well, it sounds like the power situation is on the mend, and the Big Kahuna should be online by the New Year, when the cruisers and winter Snow Birds arrive once again. -sam

Our winter season was fine considering the state of the economy and the fact that AC is not necessary in the winter and our winter guests "mostly northerners" are a bit more resilient, but our summer season was really hurt by the power outages man. Mr. Vanderpool Wallace needs to understand that there is more to the Bahamas than Nassau and he could start by lowering all the airport taxes and fees on international flights to Abaco.Why should a guest pay near a hundred dollars in taxes and fees to come to Abaco man,it is ridiculous! When he was appointed I was one of the silly ones that really thought he would do things to encourage tourim to Abaco during these tough times,but as I said I was just bein' silly.

[boatbum]

The power situation could have been resolved by everyone leaving let alone repairs. That and has the Summer heat faded? All in all everything lined up to make a mess out of this Summer, and I agree, the officials should relax things a bit to enable bargains that lure people during the off season.

[Local Knowledge]

Not long after I posted about the voltage this morning damn if the power didn't go off for about 1 1/2 hours. I didn't check the voltage till about 5:30 when I came in from the days adventure and it was 130!! Thats 260 for some appliances. Whoa! Season is ending so less load and BEC must fianally have some power to spare? One extreme to the next. They'll get it sorted out - someday.

LK

[gazeboman]

Originally Posted by SamFamAustin

Oh well, it sounds like the power situation is on the mend, and the Big Kahuna should be online by the New Year, when the cruisers and winter Snow Birds arrive once again. -sam

Anyone have any idea how long it will take to build the transmission line form the "Big Kahuna" to ? so that the power can be utilized? I saw no evidence of any new line to date.

[SamFamAustin]

Originally Posted by gazeboman

Anyone have any idea how long it will take to build the transmission line form the "Big Kahuna" to ? so that the power can be utilized? I saw no evidence of any new line to date.

I believe that one transmission line might be able to handle one of the 4 "Big Kahuna" generators, which is about 12 MW minus some losses. What is needed are more main transmission lines AND transformers because with 4 Big Kahunas, that's 36 MW nominal. From what I understand, one Big Kahuna is enough to nearly blow out all the fuses in the Abacos right now, but it might be manageable. If you had the wire, poles, bolts, and insulators such a job would only take about two weeks to a month. If additional switchgear and transformers are needed, double that amount of time. It's really not a big deal except BEC seems to have difficulty in obtaining plenty of spare parts sometimes. -sam

[patw]

More power cut problems in Abaco




Published On:Wednesday, August 11, 2010


By MEGAN REYNOLDS
Tribune Staff Reporter
mreynolds@tribunemedia.net

ABACONIANS told the problems with their power supply would be solved this week had their hopes dashed yesterday as the islands were thrown into darkness once again.
Angry business owners called The Tribune to report the power cut following Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) chairman Michael Moss' statement on Monday that the almost daily power cuts over the last three months would end with the arrival of three new generators.
The mobile generator and two hired generators installed last week will boost the 40-year-old Marsh Harbour power plant by 4.2 MW for four months, by which time the new Wilson City power plant is expected to be up and running.
Tourists
Abaconians had hoped the arrival of the new generators would signal an end to the power cuts that have cost businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses, driven tourists away and left residents to suffer in the dark.
But homes and businesses from Marsh Harbour to Hope Town and Guana Cay were cut off from the electricity supply without warning once again yesterday morning.
BEC chairman Michael Moss said the electricity supply shut down when faults in the distribution system affected some of the generators.
"However they moved really quickly to isolate the faults and repair them and the system was back online as soon as possible," he said.
But for Marsh Harbour residents who endured more than 93 hours of power cuts over 24 days in June and more than 107 hours without power over 20 days in July, yesterday's outage only enraged them further.
Peter Bradley, manager of the Conch Pearl Gallery in Marsh Harbour, said the persistent power cuts will force businesses to close.
"It has just killed us," Mr Bradley said. "July is absolutely our best month for business and this year it was way off.
"We had customers coming in saying they were leaving because of the power outages, they couldn't stand it and they were going to tell their friends not to come here.
"If everyone tells 200 friends and they tell 200 friends, I don't see why anybody would come here anymore.
"Second home-owners are putting their homes up for sale. I think we are going to see a lot of retail businesses disappear."
Prices
Supermarket owner Chad Sawyer said it would be impossible to raise food prices enough to cover the cost of running generators at his stores throughout the summer.
Hotels and house rental businesses are also suffering, and Bahama Beach Club Resort developer Craig Roberts said he has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in cancellations and compensation for visitors.

[trubahamian]

I understand and agree with every word of it Pat except the second homeowners wanting to sell because of the power outages.In Hopetown mabbee half the foreign owned homes have been for sale since the economy went bad.I'm sure a few more are now being offered,but the firesale has been on here fa a while now. The ting is though they een sellin many.