PM: “We Inherited a Power Grid on Life Support”

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NASSAU , BAHAMAS –

Philip Davis – Prime Minister

“They inherited a power grid and a generation system on life support, barely hanging on.”

That was Prime Minister Philip Davis’ assessment on Monday night as he laid out the problems plaguing the country’s power system.

Davis says BPL was carrying more than half a billion dollars in debt, along with other obligations adding to a laundry list of issues.

He says engineers warned that the country needed approximately five hundred million dollars in critical upgrades to avoid a complete failure of the electrical system.

And the equipment, he says, is simply too old, with more than 60 percent of equipment in New Providence needing replacement, and that figure at 80 percent in the Family Islands.

Philip Davis – Prime Minister

“And to keep the lights on at all, we rented engines for over forty million dollars a year. Renting money out the door, and not one dollar of it buying an asset we would own at the end.”

Davis also took aim at BPL’s overtime bill. The company spent about twenty million dollars last year, with more than six hundred thousand dollars paid to just three employees.

He blames a failure of management and oversight, saying a new policy now requires a review when workers’ overtime exceeds 30 percent of their base salary.

Philip Davis – Prime Minister

“It is not credible that a person works twenty-four hours straight, three days running, and does safe work. It is not fair to the ratepayer, who funds every dollar. And it is not fair to the honest worker, whose profession is tarnished by it. A new overtime policy is in force.”

But Davis’ message was clear: The plan is to stop patching the problem and rebuild the system.

That includes new substations and infrastructure, bringing generation units back online, phasing out rented power and moving toward natural gas and renewable energy.

Philip Davis – Prime Minister

“I am not here to manage it. I’m here to fix it.”

Davis warns there may be temporary disruptions as old infrastructure is removed and new systems are connected.

But he says the goal is a more reliable and resilient power system for The Bahamas.