BPL load sheds on Mother’s Day

BPL load sheds on Mother’s Day

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – After a weekend of spotty power supply with load shedding exercises affecting portions of New Providence, Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) announced Sunday that it had re-commenced loading shedding.

BPL made the announcement via its Facebook page around 4 p.m. and advised that Mackey Street and Palmdale were being impacted.

Eyewitness News Online understands the power company was load shedding due to a generation shortfall during peak hours.

As of 5:45 p.m., BPL had discontinued the exercise, according to BPL officials.

BPL conducted similar load shedding exercises last Friday and Saturday.

On Saturday, the power company reported that “generation challenges” impeded its operations, which resulted in parts of southern and eastern New Providence experiences power loss.

The areas impacted included: East Street, South Beach, Pinewood, Marshal Road, Cowpen Road, Blue Hill Road South, Marshal Road, East Street South, Zion Boulevard, Abundant Life, portions of Seabreeze, Imperial Park, St. Michael Road, south of Soldier Road, Highbury Park and Gleniston Gardens.

Last Friday, Moss Road, Palmetto Village, Marathon Mall, Harbour Bay, Solider Road west were among the communities impacted by the one-hour rotation.

Load shedding was discontinued around 10 p.m. that night, according to BPL.

The latest blackouts come a week after BPL was forced to conduct manual load shedding after an engine at the Blue Hills Power Stations tripped last Monday, leaving Blue Hill Road North and South, East Street South, Abundant Life South and Musha Hill without power for hours.

Other areas impacted included Prince Charles East, Fox Hill North and Ethel Street, among others.

Load shedding exercises in March and April saw hundreds of customers plunged into darkness for hours at a time.

Persistent outages that have plagued New Providence customers for years are expected to become a thing of the past with the installation of a new 132-megawatt power plant at the Clifton Pier Power Station.

The power provider signed a contract with Finnish technology group Wartsila to install the new engines.

The installation is expected to be completed by September, according to the government.

The project is expected to cost approximately $95 million.

BPL officials have said the installation will result in more reliable electricity supple and in the long-term lower fuel charges for customers.

BPL passes on the fuel surcharge directly onto consumers.

The company has been challenges since the loss of two major engines after three fires impacted its Clifton Pier Power Station last September.

 

About Royston Jones Jr.

Royston Jones Jr. is a senior digital reporter and occasional TV news anchor at Eyewitness News. Since joining Eyewitness News as a digital reporter in 2018, he has done both digital and broadcast reporting, notably providing the electoral analysis for Eyewitness News’ inaugural election night coverage, “Decision Now 2021”.