electricity

There was something almost painfully symbolic about Prime Minister Philip Davis addressing the nation Monday night about the country’s electricity crisis: While he was explaining how the government plans to fix the power system, some Bahamians in Nassau were plunged into darkness.

Davis said: “I am not going to stand here and tell you that every light will stay on tomorrow.”

He argued that his administration inherited a system that had been patched together for decades—“rent another engine and patch another cable to get through one more summer”—and said his government was now attempting to transform it.

Everyone knows BPL has problems. The question is whether the government’s plan to fix it is permanent and transparent enough.

The summer outages have stretched far beyond New Providence, affecting Abaco, Andros, Eleuthera, Long Island and other islands.

On generation, Davis says capacity is beginning to return. Blue Hills GT2 is expected back, the battery storage system is returning, two Clifton Pier engines are scheduled before the end of September, and a Blue Hills turbine is expected back in the first quarter of 2027.

Government also says 40 megawatts of rented generation can begin being phased out in January as permanent capacity comes online.

But the more complicated story is the grid.

The Davis administration’s reform plan transferred responsibility for New Providence’s transmission and distribution system to Bahamas Grid Company, while BPL reportedly pays BGC about $8 million monthly for its management.

Yet questions remain about the ownership structure following Pike Corporation’s exit from the arrangement earlier this year.

Davis described BGC as a “fully Bahamian-led utility,” but did not disclose who now owns the 60 percent interest previously associated with Island Grid Solutions.That deserves answers.

Meanwhile, the government’s longer-term vision is substantial: LNG generation scaling to 190 megawatts by late 2027, new pipelines, and combined-cycle plants at Blue Hills expected in 2027 and 2028.

The promise is cheaper and more reliable electricity.

For years, Bahamians have heard about repairs, upgrades, new engines and new plans. What makes this moment different will ultimately be measured not by how ambitious the announcement sounds, but by whether the system becomes resilient enough that a failed engine or damaged piece of equipment no longer plunges areas into darkness.

Davis said: “I am not here to manage this. I am here to fix it.”

Now, the country will be watching to see.

For a brief moment, electric cars found themselves at the centre of a national conversation, because they were mentioned during a press conference following another round of frustrating power outages in New Providence.

The debate quickly moved beyond electricity and raised a more interesting question: Just how many electric vehicles are actually on Bahamian roads?

The answer may surprise many people.

According to Pia and John Farmer, owners of Easy Car Sales and The Bahamas’ authorised BYD dealer, there are an estimated 2,500 electric vehicles currently on the nation’s roads. There is no official government count, but even by industry estimates, electric vehicles remain a small fraction of the country’s overall vehicle fleet.

Yet their presence is becoming increasingly noticeable.

Walk through a supermarket parking lot, pull into a shopping plaza or drive through western New Providence, and the quiet hum of electric vehicles is no longer unusual. It is gradually becoming part of everyday Bahamian life.

Recent buyer Neko Gibson shared the numbers behind his purchase of a Changan Deepal S05, offering a glimpse into how many consumers are approaching the market.

He purchased the vehicle for $17,300, paid $3,200 to ship it to the Bahamas, and another $4,462 in duty and VAT.

His total landed cost came to roughly $25,000.

The same model, he said, sells locally for about $40,000.

When Gibson visited a dealership in Nassau, only one vehicle remained on the lot.

Whether that reflects limited inventory or growing demand, it points to a market that appears to be gaining momentum.

Dealers say today’s buyers are driven less by novelty than by long-term savings.

According to Easy Car Sales, electric vehicles can cost about 65 percent less to own over their lifetime than comparable gasoline-powered vehicles because of lower fuel costs and reduced maintenance.

For households feeling the squeeze of rising living expenses, that calculation is becoming harder to ignore.

The global trend is moving in the same direction.

Last year, roughly one in every four new vehicles sold worldwide was fully electric, signalling that the transition is already happening.

The Bahamian government expressed its embrace of that future.

Under its Nationally Determined Contributions submitted to the United Nations, the Government has committed to a goal that by 2035, half of all new vehicles sold should be fully electric, while another 30 percent should be hybrids.

If those ambitions are realised, today’s estimated 2,500 electric vehicles will represent only the beginning.

For now, the electric vehicle remains something of a quiet revolution.

For most Bahamians, Tuesday was the first time they had ever seen Dareo McKenzie.

Three months into his tenure as chief executive officer of Bahamas Grid Company (BGC), he stepped before the national media as the country grappled with repeated blackouts, growing public frustration and questions about the reliability of the electricity system.

It was an opportunity to introduce himself, inspire confidence and explain how BGC intends to improve the country’s ageing grid.

Instead, many people left talking about beaches and electric vehicle chargers.

As New Providence endured sweltering temperatures and recurring outages, McKenzie appealed to residents to reduce electricity consumption during peak hours.

“We have a very beautiful island,” he said.

“Constant breeze. Sometimes it may not be a bad thing. I know I do it. I go out and I sit on the beach and enjoy what this beautiful island has to offer.”

He also urged consumers to report major new electrical loads, including electric vehicle chargers, warning that unreported connections place additional strain on the grid.

From an engineering perspective, encouraging energy conservation during peak demand is standard practice around the world. Utilities routinely ask consumers to shift heavy electricity use away from peak periods to help stabilize the network.

The problem was not necessarily the advice, but perhaps the timing.

Many Bahamians had spent days without reliable electricity. Some had slept in uncomfortable homes, thrown away spoiled food or watched businesses struggle through repeated outages during high temperatures.

Against that backdrop, telling residents to enjoy the beach and reduce their own electricity use was always likely to be received as tone-deaf.

The public conversation quickly shifted away from McKenzie’s technical message and toward what many perceived as a failure to appreciate the scale of public frustration.

His comments about electric vehicle chargers generated similar skepticism.

Some questioned whether EVs represent a significant enough share of electricity demand to justify being highlighted at a moment when the public wanted answers about ageing infrastructure, transformers, substations and feeder failures.

Fairly or unfairly, the impression left was that consumers were once again being asked to shoulder part of the responsibility for a system they believe has failed them.

That is an unfortunate start for a chief executive who is, in many ways, beginning with a clean slate.

McKenzie assumed leadership after Bahamas Grid Company transitioned to a fully Bahamian-led operating model following the departure of Island Grid’s management team earlier this year.

He inherited not only the responsibility of operating the country’s transmission and distribution network, but also the challenge of rebuilding public confidence in an electricity system that has become synonymous with disruption.

That confidence will not be rebuilt through technical explanations alone, but through communication that meets people where they are.

These are moments of national frustration, and his leadership is being judged as much by empathy as by expertise.

Bahamians wanted to hear how outages would become less frequent, how long repairs would take and what measurable improvements they should expect.

Instead, much of the public conversation focused on beaches and EV chargers.

First impressions are important.

For nearly an hour, some of the country’s top electricity officials stood before the nation trying to explain why Bahamians continue to endure recurring blackouts despite repeated assurances that the country was “summer ready.”

The message from Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) and Bahamas Grid Company was familiar while some are fairly new: The grid is complex, the weather is hotter, unexpected failures happen, no electrical system can be 100 percent reliable, consumers should reduce electricity use during peak hours and electric vehicle chargers should be reported.

But the public’s response revealed a growing crisis of confidence.

Across social media, frustration quickly drowned out the explanations.

“They always looking for someone to blame. They just need to get it right,” one Bahamian wrote.

Another dismissed the explanations entirely.

“Excuses for their lack of upgrade to their system.”

When officials suggested that residents should report electric vehicle chargers because of the additional load they place on the grid, another response reflected the skepticism many consumers now feel.

“The suggestion that EV chargers ought to be reported is absurd. Most houses that utilize an EV charger find that consumption entirely fits within their amperage service.”

Whether every criticism is technically accurate is almost beside the point. The bigger story is that many Bahamians no longer trust what they are hearing.

That is a dangerous place for any public utility to find itself.

For months, Bahamians have listened to announcements about modernization, infrastructure upgrades and preparations for the summer peak season.

Then came repeated outages, island-wide blackouts, and rotational load shedding in the middle of summer.

Neighbourhoods spending hours without electricity and public sleeping in a puddle of sweat.

By the time executives held Tuesday’s press conference, many consumers were no longer listening to the explanations.

When families are sleeping without air conditioning, businesses are throwing away spoiled inventory and workers are struggling to stay productive, asking the public to use less electricity can sound more like another burden than a solution.

The electricity system is genuinely complicated, and consumers deserve honest information about generation, substations, feeders and distribution.

But communication only works when it is matched by visible progress. Without that, every explanation risks sounding like another excuse.

Bahamians understand that no electrical system is perfect but what many appear unwilling to accept is a cycle of recurring outages followed by another round of explanations.

The challenge facing BPL and Bahamas Grid Company is bigger than repairing transformers or replacing feeders, but rebuilding trust.

Many Bahamians have reached the point where they believe the explanations have become more reliable than the electricity itself.

After another island-wide blackout plunged New Providence into darkness, Prime Minister Philip Davis, flanked by Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) executives, toured the Blue Hills Power Station, viewed the damaged equipment and assured Bahamians that his government remains committed to fixing the country’s aging electricity system.

His message was familiar: The system is old, the government inherited an “archaic” power plant, transformation is underway and Bahamians must be patient.

Few would dispute that BPL’s infrastructure has suffered from decades of underinvestment and neglect. Replacing aging transformers, upgrading the transmission grid and modernizing generation cannot happen overnight.

But after another nationwide blackout—and after weeks of repeated outages across New Providence—the public has lost confidence that meaningful improvements are actually arriving.

Just weeks ago, Energy Minister JoBeth Coleby-Davis assured Parliament that BPL had sufficient generating capacity to meet peak summer demand. Bahamians were told the utility was prepared.

Instead, the country has experienced one of its most difficult summers for electricity in recent memory, with frequent outages, rotational load shedding, and now island-wide blackouts triggered by what authorities say is an explosion at Blue Hills Power Station.

The contrast between the promise and the public experience is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

Prime Minister Davis says the government inherited a broken system from the previous administration. That political argument may resonate with some supporters, and there is evidence that today’s challenges did not begin in 2017 either.

What improvements have been made to BPL since attaining office in 2021?

After winning a second term in office, many consumers are asking whether the conversation should begin shifting from who created the problem to how quickly it is being solved.

Photographs inside a power plant will not restore public confidence.

It is restored when families can sleep comfortably through the night without another outage, when businesses stop losing thousands of dollars in spoiled inventory and when parents no longer worry whether the electricity remain on during this heatwave.

A tour shows the public concern, but it does not restore electricity. An apology acknowledges frustration, but it does not keep the grid online.

Are the lights staying on? That is the measure by which every announcement, every tour and every promise will ultimately be judged.

The public does not want to see another transformer, but results.

Over the past week, Energy Minister JoBeth Coleby-Davis has become the public face of one of the government’s biggest political headaches—because the lights went out consistently and many Bahamians felt the government lacked proper communication to the public.

When large sections of New Providence were plunged into darkness for hours at a time in what feels like every other day, Bahamians were looking for electricity and reassurances from Bahamas Power and Light. Instead, many complained they were left refreshing social media, searching for updates that came too slowly and answered very little of their concerns.

The lack of communication became almost as damaging as the blackout itself.

Ironically, it came less than a month after Coleby-Davis publicly declared that BPL was “ready for summer.”

Those words now haunt the government.

Whether the outages were caused by an extraordinary lightning strike or an aging electrical grid is almost secondary in the court of public opinion. What many people remember is the promise, followed by the recurrent blackouts.

This summer, Bahamians are surviving the blistering heat combined with constant power outages with higher indoor temperatures, particularly for hundreds of homes without a generator.

If this is any indication of what’s ahead, we are indeed headed to a summer of hell.

The energy minister has now acknowledged the communication failures, admitting that updates should have been “faster, clearer and more regular.”

But Bahamians are still frustrated.

The deeper challenge for Coleby-Davis is that BPL’s competence in under scrutiny.

Every blackout now raises questions about hospitals losing power, businesses losing revenue, and sleepless nights in the heat, particularly for toddlers and the elderly.

People inevitably begin asking whether years of promised energy reform are meaningful changes.

Bahamians no longer want to hear only what went wrong, they want timelines and accountability, evidence that long-promised investments in generation, transmission and renewable energy are becoming a reality.

For Coleby-Davis, this is becoming a test of her leadership.

The coming weeks will determine whether she remains the face of a government struggling to explain recurring failures or becomes the minister who convinced Bahamians that a reliable energy future is still within reach.

For many Bahamians, power outages mean hot, miserable nights without air conditioning or cooling fans, food spoilage, a small business losing revenue, trying to keep children comfortable, and elderly individuals sitting in the heat waiting for the lights to turn back on.

As load shedding and extended outages continue across New Providence and the Family Islands, when the power goes out, who carries the cost?

The Bahamas Power and Light has stated that demand is increasing, the system is under pressure, the equipment has failed and the infrastructure upgrades are ongoing. But for consumers experiencing repeated outages, who pays the price while the system is being so-called repaired?

In recent days, residents across New Providence have experienced extended power interruptions as BPL says it is managing equipment issues, circuit overloads and rotational power supply.

BPL has attributed some outages to peak electricity demand overwhelming parts of the system, while other interruptions, they say, have been linked to equipment damage and repairs. The company has also pointed to ongoing infrastructure improvements aimed at creating a more reliable electricity network.

But for consumers, it’s the length of time power was turned off, damaged appliances, businesses losing money and a bill that does not reflect the service they received.

One of the biggest frustrations among consumers is the lack of compensation.

When electricity fails, customers still have obligations— bills must be paid, businesses must continue operating and families still have expenses.

When service interruptions happen repeatedly, customers should be compensated when a utility fails to provide reliable service.

Many countries have systems where utilities can face penalties or provide credits when service standards are not met.

Energy reform has been one of the Davis administration’s major promises since taking office in 2021— LNG agreements, renewable energy projects, transmission and distribution upgrades and restructuring of BPL.

The transfer of BPL’s transmission and distribution assets to Bahamas Grid Company was presented as part of a broader effort to modernize the system.

BPL officials said major network upgrades are nearing completion, but the public is still experiencing an unstable power grid.

Minister of Energy, Utilities and Aviation JoBeth Coleby-Davis has described the interruptions as part of the “growing pains” of building a more reliable energy system.

For the person sitting in a dark house, sweating in the summer heat, it does not remove the burden.

The Bahamas has been talking about energy reform for years. BPL still has the responsibility of balancing the cost of fixing a broken system with protecting the people living through the repairs.

When the lights go out, Bahamians are left carrying the bill.

For years, the promise has been made for a more reliable power grid, a modern energy system, and an end to the cycle of blackouts that has frustrated residents and businesses for decades.

But this weekend, as Bahamians across New Providence and the Family Islands experienced power outages during some of the hottest season of the year, many Bahamians found themselves asking the same question: After millions of dollars in upgrades and years of promises, why are we still sitting in the dark?

The latest outages came as Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) implemented load shedding on New Providence, citing ongoing work connected to a new transformer installation at the Fire Trail Substation.

BPL said the transformer was installed and energized for load testing. But for residents, the explanation did not change the experience: Homes were without electricity, businesses were disrupted and families tried to stay cool in extreme summer heat.

Energy reform has been one of the major promises of the Davis administration.

The government has pointed to several initiatives: LNG agreements, solar power purchase agreements, infrastructure upgrades and the creation of Bahamas Grid Company (BGC) to manage transmission and distribution assets.

A major part of that plan was a $130 million network upgrade project on New Providence, designed to strengthen the transmission and distribution system.

Officials recently said the project was approximately 95 percent complete.

But if the system is almost upgraded, why is it still so fragile?

Summer is when electricity demand rises, air conditions run longer, businesses rely heavily on consistent power and families, especially elderly residents and toddlers feel the impact of outages more severely.

The government has argued that delays affected the timeline of the upgrades.

Minister of Energy JoBeth Coleby-Davis pointed to the March 21 shooting death of a Pike Electric worker, saying the incident delayed the project by about eight weeks.

She said the original timeline expected completion before the peak summer demand period.

Now, the country is experiencing the consequences of completing major work during a period when the grid is under maximum pressure.

While Nassau often receives the most attention, Family Island residents have continued to battle their own electricity challenges.

Eleuthera and Abaco have experienced repeated outages, including load shedding and equipment failures. For some communities, a blackout is part of daily life.

Residents have waited for promised energy projects, including microgrids and renewable energy solutions, but many are still asking when those changes will actually arrive.

The energy problem in the Bahamas did not begin overnight. Aging infrastructure, high fuel costs, maintenance challenges and system reliability issues have existed for years.

The Davis administration came into office promising energy reform. Now, midway through its term, the public is looking for results. Because when the bill comes, Bahamians pay, and when the power goes out, Bahamians suffer.

When will residents see meaningful progress in power supply?

Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party Fred Mitchell condemned the government corporation Bahamas Power and Light for shutting-off power to thousands of homes for failure to pay overdue bills.

The big picture

Bahamas Power and Light disconnected 8,741 residents in New Providence and Family Islands for non-payments. The corporation says it is ‘strap for cash’ as it struggles to pay its staff, fuel, and equipment in the middle of a pandemic.

Why it matters

Thousands of people have been unemployed since the onset of the pandemic, which means many families cannot afford to pay electricity bills. When the electricity is shut-off, children in the home are unable to attend virtual school.

The PLP’s reaction

Fred Mitchell, the opposition’s chairman said the corporation’s decision to disconnect electricity from thousands of homes is unjustifiable. In a press statement, he called on the government-run corporation to stop disconnections.

“How could they in good conscience with the following facts before them countenance and justify such actions by a public corporation: covid is rampant; unemployment is at record levels – near 50 percent; children are at home who can’t go to school with many attending school on the government’s virtual platform; money is in short supply; NIB assistance has been reduced, and the little food that people get must be protected from being spoiled.