NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers’ Confederation (BCCEC) says prolonged power outages have become “downright unacceptably disruptive” for the business community, forcing some Downtown Nassau businesses to close and absorb mounting revenue, overtime and generator repair costs.
The Chamber in a statement expressed grave concern over the extended outages affecting broad areas of New Providence, warning that businesses cannot operate effectively without a consistent and reliable electricity supply.
“From the business community’s perspective, these outages are now downright unacceptably disruptive, as it is difficult to conduct business without a consistent energy supply.”
Downtown Nassau, one of the country’s most important commercial and tourism districts, was among the areas severely affected by an outage linked to problems at Bahamas Power and Light’s (BPL) East Hill Street Substation.
The Chamber said the disruption had forced some of its members to temporarily close their businesses and send employees home. Those companies subsequently faced the added cost of paying overtime to employees to complete work delayed by the outage.
“Downtown, a key fixture, took a grave hit,” the Chamber said.
“Some of our members report having to close their businesses and send staff home, then later paying them overtime to ensure the workload stays on track.”
The BCCEC also warned that businesses with backup generators had not escaped the financial and operational consequences of the extended outage.
While generators can provide temporary relief during short disruptions, the Chamber said the prolonged operation of those systems had placed continuous strain on the equipment and contributed to additional mechanical failures.
“Even businesses with backup generators have found that the continuous stress and load on their generators is leading to increased mechanical failures,” the Chamber said.
Businesses relying on generators also face additional fuel, maintenance and repair expenses at a time when their revenue is already being threatened by reduced operating hours and declining customer traffic.
The Chamber urged BPL and the government to introduce immediate measures to stabilize the electricity supply and ensure businesses, residents and visitors are not repeatedly inconvenienced by prolonged outages.
“We urge BPL and the government to present some measures to stabilize the energy supply and ensure that Bahamians and visitors are not finding themselves continuously inconvenienced by constant power outages,” the BCCEC said.
“At least assist in offsetting the ever-mounting losses of revenue.”
The Chamber’s statement came as BPL advised customers in Downtown Nassau, Shirley Street, East Hill Street and surrounding communities on Thursday that technicians were preparing to resume repairs to an issue associated with the East Hill Street Substation.
The company said the affected customers had been without electricity since Wednesday.
According to BPL, the East Hill Street Substation supplies customers between Collins Avenue and Marlborough Street, extending as far south as Vesey Street and covering a major portion of the Downtown Nassau area.
The electricity provider said technicians initially identified the problem through proactive monitoring. However, an additional equipment concern was discovered while crews worked Wednesday night to establish an alternative supply route through the Arawak Cay Substation.
“BPL technicians identified the issue through proactive monitoring, and an additional equipment concern was discovered while crews worked to establish an alternate supply route through the Arawak Cay Substation last night,” BPL said.
“We wish to confirm that our specialized teams have mobilized to safely address both issues and restore full system redundancy.”
BPL said repair work was scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. Thursday and was expected to take approximately five to six hours to complete.
The company apologized to the residential and commercial customers affected by the extended disruption, acknowledging the frustration caused by being without electricity for such a prolonged period.
“We understand how frustrating an extended outage can be for both residential and commercial customers, and sincerely apologize to all customers currently impacted,” BPL said.
“BPL appreciates your patience and understanding as our teams work to complete these repairs safely and efficiently and restore service as quickly as possible.”
The outage and the Chamber’s warning come just days after Prime Minister Philip Davis delivered a national address on the country’s energy sector Monday night, outlining the government’s plans to overhaul electricity generation, transmission and distribution.
During the address, Davis acknowledged that Bahamians continue to experience outages despite improvements reportedly achieved through the government’s energy reform programme.
“The outages Bahamians are experiencing now are also real,” Davis said.
“The lesson is not that the earlier work failed. The lesson is that the upgrade is not yet complete, that reliability has not improved evenly in every community, and that an old and overstressed system can still lose ground when demand rises, or critical equipment fails.”
The Prime Minister said BPL was carrying more than $500 million in debt and approximately $100 million in unfunded pension obligations. He added that engineers had estimated that around $500 million in critical infrastructure upgrades was needed to prevent a complete failure of the country’s electricity system.
Davis said more than 60 percent of New Providence’s generation equipment needed to be replaced, while approximately 80 percent of the equipment in the Family Islands required replacement.
He also noted that BPL had been spending more than $40 million annually on rental generation to keep electricity flowing.
The Prime Minister stressed that adding new generation alone would not eliminate outages, explaining that transmission and distribution infrastructure—including substations, cables, transformers, poles and wires—must also be upgraded.
“Generation is the engine,” Davis said.
“Transmission and distribution are the poles, the wires, the substations, the transformers and the cables that carry that power from the generators to your street and into your home.”
Davis said Bahamas Grid Company had undertaken a $130 million foundational upgrade of New Providence’s transmission and distribution network.
That work includes stronger steel poles, larger conductors, modern protection devices, fibre communications, a looped transmission system and three new high-voltage substations.
According to the Prime Minister, the improvements were associated with a 45 percent reduction in outage frequency and a 35 percent decline in outage duration compared to historical averages.
However, he conceded that the country remains some distance away from achieving a consistently reliable electricity supply.
The government’s longer-term plans include replacing failing generation equipment, commissioning new substations, strengthening weak feeders, introducing liquefied natural gas and expanding solar power and battery storage systems.
Davis said the first phase of LNG development is expected to come online this year and scale up to 190 megawatts of gas-fired capacity by late 2027. Combined-cycle plants at Blue Hills are expected to be commissioned during 2027 and 2028.
For the business community, however, the Chamber’s statement underscores the immediate economic consequences of outages occurring while those longer-term reforms are still being implemented.
The BCCEC’s concerns extend beyond the loss of electricity itself, as businesses must contend with interrupted operations, reduced sales, employee downtime, overtime expenses and damage to backup equipment.
The Chamber is now pressing BPL and the government for immediate stabilization measures, as well as consideration of assistance for businesses being forced to absorb mounting losses because of the continued electricity disruptions.
