By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamian retailer yesterday revealed that Sunday's island-wide power outage forced it to close at 2pm, wiping out one of its busiest trading days and highlighting the growing cost that electricity disruptions are imposing on companies.

Eddie Toote, Designer Beauté’s proprietor, told Tribune Business that the outage disrupted operations across the company's three New Providence locations, with two stores left without electricity for the entire day and a third only briefly regaining service before power was lost again.

"We basically lost the whole day," said Mr Toote.  "We had three locations open on Sunday. One had electricity for about an hour, but the other two didn't have power at all. We normally operate from 10am to 7pm on Sundays, but we had to close at 2pm because there was no sign the electricity was coming back on. It wasn't comfortable for our staff or our customers."

While electricity returned to most locations on Monday, one store experienced another interruption during the afternoon. "One store lost power again around 2pm," said Mr Toote.  "When I checked back at closing they told me the electricity never came back on. So yesterday was basically a full day without power, and today was a half day."

Mr Toote said the timing of the outage made the losses particularly painful because Sundays are among the retailer's strongest trading days. "If we were going to choose a day to close, it definitely wouldn't be Sunday," he said. "We open seven days a week, and Sunday is one of our most productive days."

The outage also disrupted operations for food retailers, with one grocery operator, who requested anonymity, telling Tribune Business back-up systems could only do so much during an extended blackout.

"Our back-up generator was kind of in and out, so it was a challenge," the retailer said. "The day before was actually worse than Sunday, but it's just not a good situation to have the power off."

The retailer added that generators are not designed to keep every aspect of a supermarket operating normally during prolonged outages. "Back-up generators don't keep everything running," the retailer said. "They only keep some things on, so it's still very inconvenient for businesses."

Mark Turnquest, founder of the 242 Small Business Association and Resource Centre (SBARC), said prolonged outages are especially damaging during the summer months when retailers typically experience higher sales tied to family gatherings, beach outings and other seasonal activities.

"I'm very disappointed with BPL because these summer months are when a lot of small businesses make their money," said Mr Turnquest. "There are more events, picnics, parties and beach outings, so people are buying clothes, food and other goods."

He agreed that while many businesses have invested in back-up generators, those systems are only a partial solution when outages stretch for hours.

"Generators help, but when an outage lasts more than eight hours it becomes very difficult, especially for convenience stores that have to keep their beverages cold," Mr Turnquest said. "Take ice cream, for example. Once it starts to melt, that's it."

Mr Turnquest said business owners are also facing steadily rising electricity costs, making prolonged outages even more frustrating. "Year over year, my clients are paying more for electricity," he said. "The bills have already started climbing, and we're only at the beginning of the summer."

Explaining Sunday's outage, Bahamas Power and Light chief executive, Toni Seymour, said the disruption stemmed from an explosion at the utility's primary substation at the Blue Hills power plant.

"We would like to apologise to all New Providence residents impacted by Sunday's prolonged outage," said Ms Seymour. "It resulted from an explosion at our primary substation at the Blue Hills power plant."

She said the explosion damaged equipment used to export electricity from the station, requiring crews to first secure the area before repairs could begin. "A fault of this magnitude takes an exceptionally long time to restore, which is why the outage was so widespread and prolonged," Ms Seymour said.

She added that customers still experiencing outages should report them to BPL, as those interruptions are unrelated to Sunday's extended outage and may require additional repairs.