Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) has appointed two Bahamians to head the management team. They include a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and a Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Whitney Heastie, has been made CEO and Mrs. Christina Alston, with over 25 years of experience in the electricity utility sector, has been awarded the title of COO.
The announcement of the new executives was made at a BPL Press Conference yesterday.
Mr. Heastie’s role as CEO is in effect, while Mrs. Alston’s role becomes effective November 13th.
BPL Chairman, Ms. Darnell Osbourne expressed the importance of hiring Bahamians, as BPL feels it’s imperative to maintain the board and employees with Bahamians only.
“I indicated that the board was looking forward to attracting some of our own Bahamians who have worked abroad and have gained a lot of international experience and best practices in utility companies. We are quite pleased that we have found these two individuals.” Ms. Osbourne stated.
Further expanding on the board’s decision of hiring Bahamians, Ferron Bethell said, “As indicated by the chair, both of our appointees are Bahamians and the board feels gratified in fulfilling that aspect of its promised mandate and we will continue to look to fulfill necessary positions with Bahamians.”
Speaking of his time he has spent as director of BPL, Mr. Heastie disclosed that the task ahead of him is not insurmountable, but admitted there is much work to be done. However, he is confident that whatever future missions are set before him, it can be accomplished, as there is a strong team in place.
Mr. Heastie declared that he feels very confident that in due time the Bahamian people will see the results of the hard work that BPL is going to put forth.
In regards to immediate concerns of BPL, Mr. Heastie said, “We’ve been assessing the needs of the corporation and we have already began to put in place some of the strategies we need immediately to remedy some of the nagging issues that are plaguing the company.”
Furthermore, adequate generation on the ground is also a major concern for the new CEO, as there are still some outages around transmission and distribution.
Mr. Heastie said that he has engaged in the study of the transmission and distribution system, which will assist in prioritizing the areas of softness.
Mr. Heastie says the biggest challenge facing him is two-fold; Transmission and Distribution and Generation, where pockets of outages have been constant complaints of Bahamians throughout the Bahamas.
Possessing a confident and positive disposition toward the challenges he may face as BPL’s new CEO, Mr. Heastie said, “certainly from an individual perspective coming in to the new CEO position, I have been apprised of what has been going on and I’m ready to take on that challenge.”
Mr. Heastie brings with him 20 years of experience in design, operation and the enhancement industrial facilities obtained in The United States.
Additionally, he returned to the Freeport, Bahamas seven years ago and was instrumental in remediating Grand Bahama Power Company.
Newly appointed COO, Mrs. Alston’s is also an award winning Electrical Engineer. She is knowledgeable in the areas of Transmission and Distribution Planning as well as Biomass Cogeneration.
She is a certified energy manager whose most recent position was director of supply chain services for Georgia Transmission Corporation; the largest transmission cooperative in The United States.
