power

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.

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.