Another Day, Another Interruption for BPL

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NASSAU , BAHAMAS – Another day, another power outage.

On Friday, BPL issued an alert through its WhatsApp channel advising customers that a feeder had tripped along Windsor Field Road, leaving parts of western New Providence without electricity.

The latest outage comes as the utility company continues battling multiple issues across its network, just one day after admitting the country’s power grid is nearing capacity.

For some residents, the interruption barely caused a reaction.

Resident:

“It’s not that great, but it happens.”

Resident:

“There was no power when I got up in the morning, but I was fine.”

Another resident said she slept through the outage, only realizing the lights were off after stepping outside.

Resident:

“You wasn’t really bothered by it. No man, I’s knock right out. I was tired. Until I get out, oh my goodness, when I get out to walk out in the road, oh you know, outage.”

But while some have grown accustomed to the outages, others say they’re fed up with paying high electricity bills despite the continued disruptions.

Resident:

“Anyway, get everything up and running. Because we still gotta go to BPL and pay our bills, and ain’t nobody taking nothing off. Eight dollars, what that is.”

Meanwhile, across town in Palmdale, an overheating transformer left more homes and businesses without power, adding to an already frustrating day.

Among those impacted was Grace Funeral Home, where reliable electricity is critical to daily operations. Proprietor Melanie Johnson says the repeated outages have left her with no choice but to invest in a generator, adding another expense to her business.

Melanie Johnson, Proprietor, Grace Funeral Home:

“In order for families to preserve their loved ones, I have to make that decision to invest in a generator. It’s going to affect me, but it’s something that I have to do because we can’t wait around for BPL.”

Now, BPL says crews responded to both incidents and worked to restore power, but warned that repairs would take time. For many Bahamians, Friday’s outages are just the latest in a string of power problems, as concerns continue to grow over the stability of the country’s electrical grid.