By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

AFTER power cuts plagued residents this summer, Transport and Energy Minister JoBeth Coleby-Davis said her ministry is already working to ensure reliable operations next summer.

She told reporters on Friday that early maintenance of generators will play a key role in preventing outages in 2024.

“We are planning now to make sure that our maintenance programmes are well advanced so that we could begin working on all of our plants, all of our generators and getting them ready for the load that may come,” she said.

“We saw a really big load usage this summer, and it really is tied into climate change. A lot of the world was experiencing an extremely hot summer, and so we want to make sure that we’re well prepared and ready, and so our team are already working towards preparation for a next summer.”

Mrs Coleby-Davis said she intends to expand the use of renewable energy, make electricity more affordable and improve relations between Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) staff. 

 “We have quite a lot of work cut out for us,” she said. “We’re bringing in some new legislation. We’re going to bring some legislation related to the renewable energy sector, and also for LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas), and so we’re looking to bring alternative fuel mix that will help us to drive the costs of the electricity down.”

 She reiterated that Bahamians should see lower power bills soon.

 “I’m advised that it begin to trend downwards,” she said. “And then we’re getting into the cooler area, so less usage would be experienced from the consumers just generally out of natural actions in their own homes.” 

 “And then we’re seeking to bring on new fuel mixes in, so the less you burn, you can bring the cost down as well, and so that’s the discussion, and then we’re doing a tariff assessment as well so we’re seeking to have a lot of different contributing factors come together simultaneously so that it can help to bring the cost of electricity down.”