Problems with Grand Bahama Power

BY DR. LEATENDORE PERCENTIE

As incredible as it sounds, it's hard to believe that Grand Bahama Power in a press conference last week in Freeport announced what many persons had been saying for years. In the words of Chief Executive Officers E.O. Ferrel and Michael Cilinski, the reliability of the service provided by their company is absolutely unacceptable!

Coming from the big chiefs who should know the business, one can just imagine how John Q Public feels about the Grand Bahama Power Company. With almost daily interruptions all over Grand Bahama, many persons are demanding to know what on earth is going on with that company.

Once upon a time, Grand Bahamians were proud to boast about their Power Company. Unlike New Providence and some of the Family Islands where power outages were so predictable that the big joke was that one could set their clock by it, Grand Bahamians did not have to worry about power outages as they simply did not occur. Few if any businesses even bothered to have a back-up generator as that investment would be regarded as a waste of money since it was not a necessity.

The understanding promoted by the Power Company and a selling point to encourage businesses to come to Grand Bahama was the fact that Grand Bahama had a reliable Power Company with a surplus of electricity available. In addition, the cost of electricity on Grand Bahama was almost a third less than other areas of the Bahamas as the Power Company was taking advantage of benefits provided under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement.

Unless there was "an act of God" such as a lightening strike or an accident resulting in a transformer being damaged or knocked over, operations were virtually 100 percent. Yes, there was minor damage to some of the Grand Bahama Power infrastructure after the mild hurricanes during the 1990s with only minimal inconveniences for the customers.

However, major challenges arose for Grand Bahama Power in the aftermath of the devastation of hurricanes Frances, Jeanne and Wilma. Much of the infrastructure had to be replaced and with new lines and equipment, one would expect improved efficiency. Yet, in today's Grand Bahama, the services provided by Grand Bahama Power are just as unreliable as any- where in The Bahamas!

What is so upsetting about the way that Grand Bahama Power conducts its business is the fact that even though the executives of the company have come forward and apologized for their bad service, they benefit from a double standard when it comes to the consumer exercising any kind of rights.

Whenever you are in the unfortunate position of being delinquent with your payment, no matter what the reason – including reasons beyond your control – Grand Bahama Power does not demonstrate any mercy or even bother to attempt to understand your unfortunate situation. They just simply cut you off until you pay!

Even when you have lost your job, sick, or having to deal with other pressing matters, make no mistake about it, Grand Bahama Power will leave you in the dark! They don't care whether your ice cream melts or your meats spoil or that in the middle of the hot summer, you cannot run your air conditioning. As far as they are concerned, that is your problem.

Another unfair benefit that Grand Bahama Power enjoys is the fact they are not held accountable for their bad and unacceptable services. Many persons have complained about the fact that these electrical surges have damaged their equipment and appliances. Everything from refrigerators, televisions, radios, air conditioners, computers, etc have been made inoperable due to faulty electrical flow.

The policy of Grand Bahama Power has been not to compensate the consumer even when they are clearly at fault. This is an injustice that the Utilities Commission and any other regulating bodies such as the Ministry of Consumer Affairs need to address. This lack of consumer protection is grossly unfair and any caring Government would not subject its citizens to such a lopsided agreement.

Grand Bahama Power, with its monopoly, literally has the Grand Bahama public bent over a barrel with no institution making any effort to assist the public by levelling the electrical power playing field.

Another sore point with Grand Bahama Power is that persons have reported that after a reconnection, without notice or negotiation, they have had the amount of their initial deposit increased substantially and it is simply added on to their bill. This is morally wrong as someone may have had a deposit in for 20 years without any incidents. During that time, the Power Company has made more than that amount over the from interest on that deposit.

Finally, the outrage vented against Grand Bahama Power in recent times has been the fuel surcharge on the bill, which at times has been higher than the electrical usage itself. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to how this is calculated. Even when the price of oil goes down, there appears to be little correlation.

Grand Bahama Power has done little to develop alternate or sustainable fuel sources such as wind and solar. To the contrary, their monopoly prevents consumers from developing these cheaper sources of electricity.

Grand Bahama Power should be leading the charge to encourage the use of energy-saver appliances and the promotion of technical development of new energy sources here on Grand Bahama. Rather than apologize, the Grand Bahama Power Company should give its customers some relief!

© 2009 The Freeport News