By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Power and Light yesterday denied that the recent wave of power outages was the result of “generation shortfalls,” while expressing confidence that its present fleet of generators is “capable of meeting existing customer demand.”

BPL, in a statement yesterday, said the past two weeks of intermittent power outages, particularly those that took place on Tuesday, were not due to issues with power generation, but the result of three separate incidents that caused “just over half” of BPL’s customers “to experience some period of supply interruption” in the previous 24 hours.

The company said a vehicle accident on Shirley Street, a cable fault in the Imperial Park area, and a fire in the New Providence well-fields “that impacted overhead transmission lines” were the cause of those outages.

Further, BPL said that during the last month, its system was impacted by “other events”, such as generator trips, third party interference, and “planned and emergency maintenance,” which “may have resulted in what customers deem to be frequent outages.”

Nonetheless, BPL’s statement said the company “understands the frustration of its customers when outages occur,” and asked for its customers’ “patience and full support as it works on immediate and long term fixes to improve energy reliability in the country.”

“In many instances, especially those that occurred on Tuesday, the impact to our system is unavoidable. However, BPL can assure its customers that when there is a problem its teams immediately respond to minimise the duration of the outage and the number of customers impacted.

“The company remains focused on its objectives to provide its customers with improved service and will continue to implement strategies and technologies to mitigate future occurrences and expedite recovery when necessary.”

The statement added: “BPL asks for its customers’ patience and full support as it works on immediate and long term fixes to improve energy reliability in the country.”

Last month, BPL expressed confidence that it will meet peak summer demand, while acknowledging that it has been tackling challenges at its Clifton Pier Power Station.

In a statement sent to Tribune Business, BPL acknowledged that there have been periods of supply interruption to some customers, some of which it said was due to challenges at the Clifton Pier Power Station.

Nonetheless, BPL said it was working to correct each challenge as it arises.