By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

Bahamas Power and Light Company announced yesterday that rotational load shedding on Cat Island has ended after more than two weeks.

Pedro Marcello, BPL’s Family Regional Island Manager, said the load shedding—which began on August 11 and lasted 16 days—has been discontinued. All four generation units are now on the island, with three fully available and two currently online.

The fourth unit is undergoing final mechanical repairs and is expected to be commissioned by the weekend, restoring the generation fleet to full capacity.

“This is a proud moment for both BPL and the residents of Cat Island,” said Mr Marcello.

“We committed to resolving this issue swiftly, and our teams delivered. The load shedding that began on August 11 is now behind us, and we look forward to having all units fully operational in the coming days.”

BPL’s CEO Toni Seymour highlighted the importance of stable electricity connections for Family Island residents and reaffirmed the utility’s commitment to providing quality service.

“As a native of Long Island, I fully understand how vital consistent electricity supply is to our Family Island communities,” said Ms Seymour

“We appreciate the patience shown by the residents of Cat Island and remain committed to delivering the quality of service they deserve.”

Last week, Ms Seymour announced that BPL will issue a 50 percent rebate on the base rate to residents in Eleuthera, Long Island, Cat Island, and Abaco in the next billing cycle, as compensation for repeated power outages experienced this summer.

She said residents on Cat Island had been experiencing four-hour load shedding intervals, but BPL teams were actively working to address the shortfall through both repairs and new generation capacity.

“We have teams on the ground who are currently working to install a brand-new unit in the power station at Cat Island. So initially, we had a failure on one of the units. Cat Island Power Station has four engines installed- we had a failure on one of the units, and about a week later we had a failure on a second unit, which has now reduced us to only two units available at the power station,” said Ms Seymour

“So while we’re conducting repairs on one of the failed units, we’re also installing a brand-new unit to shore up generation on that island, and we expect to have those completed by mid-next month”