NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Widespread power outages experienced by consumers of Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) have prompted an investigation by the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA), who lamented the detrimental effects the outages have on the lives of residential and commercial consumers across the country.
“In the past two months alone, significant outages have occurred in Abaco, Acklins, North Andros, Cat Island, Exuma, Mayaguana, and New Providence. The outages were a combination of generation and transmission failures, third-party damage, and weather,” URCA acknowledged in a press statement.
“URCA has requested and received outage reports for all these instances. With the exception of North Andros, all supplies have been restored. In the case of North Andros, there has been partial restoration; however, some load shedding continues. The matter is still under investigation; in the interim BPL is in the process of shoring up supplies there.”
URCA said it was “satisfied” with BPL’s short-term actions to address the outages.
“However, the quantity and nature of the outages paint a picture of a struggling utility unable to provide power of sufficient reliability and quality,” the regulator stated, noting that BPL’s woes negatively impact the economy and quality of life in The Bahamas.
URCA said it is working with the relevant stakeholders to develop and execute a “more durable solution” to these issues.
