By Gerrino J. Saunders
Journal Staff Writer

Last year residents on Harbour Island took to the streets in protest over a lack of
reliable utilities especially the electrical supply on Harbour Island and mainland
North Eleuthera.
The Davis administration has taken notice and has pledged to address their
concerns, and during her contribution to the mid-year budget debate the Minister
responsible for electricity Jobeth Coleby-Davis said relief for the residents of
Eleuthera is in the works.
She said, “we recognize that Eleuthera’s electricity challenges are deep; years of
overlooking maintenance and increasing demand from economic growth have
created a crisis of enormous propensity; however, we are working quickly to
resolve the problem.
“But to ensure that we afford the residents of Eleuthera a better supply of
electricity, we formed at BPL the Eleuthera Grid Revitalization Project Team.
This team is comprised of dedicated workforce from Eleuthera, Nassau, and roving
teams to ensure that the work to improve Eleuthera’s grid is completely and
quickly resolved,” said Coleby-Davis.
Going further Coleby-Davis went on to describe some of the works and
infrastructural upgrades taking place on Eleuthera and its electrical supply.
“Ongoing work includes upgrades to feeder transformer replacements and pole
reinforcements; the Rock Sound feeder upgrade is underway and once completed,
it will enhance voltage ability and reduce power outages,” explained Coleby-
Davis.
Further she said, “the transformer replacement in Harbour Island and the
replacement of poles in Tarpum Bay, will assist in meeting the growing energy
demand and enhanced reliability for residents and businesses. We also expect that
the retrofitting of street lights in Wemyss Bight, Palmetto Point and Green Castle
will be completed by June 2025.”

Coleby-Davis notified the residents of Eleuthera that some of the works may result
in temporary power disruptions and she apologized to the residents in advance.
She noted that BPL’s communications team has been “working diligently” to
respond to concerns and quarries raised by residents on Eleuthera.
Prime Minister Philip Davis is confident his administration will overcome the
historic challenges faced by BPL and begin to provide reliable and more affordable
electricity for the entire country in the not too distant future.
Prime Minister Philip Davis believes with the coming improvements to the
electricity grid and introduction of solar and ongoing maintenance and upgrades
many of the country’s energy problems will be addressed.
Going back to 2015-2016 when BPL was formed under the Christie Administration
with new legislation to “put it on the right track”, a goal he had when he had
responsibility for BEC as the Minister of Public Works and Utilities, he said the
process to transform BEC began then but they lost the election in 2017 and was not
able to complete the transformation which is currently taking place.
Last year he said, “electricity has been the elephant in the room for many-many
years. It has hampered growth; electricity bills are almost akin to some ones
mortgage and the time has come for us to make sure that there is distance between
those expenses to our Bahamian people.”
In June 2024, the government announced that it entered into a 25-year contract
with Pike Corporation, through its Bahamian management company Island Grid
Solutions, for the upgrade and management of BPL transmission and distribution
network.
The Prime Minister also promised that BPL will put an end to spending millions of
dollars each year renting generators during the summer months.
The government also entered into agreements with several companies to provide
solar and renewable energy sources on a number of Family Islands including the
Berry Islands, Andros, Abaco, Bimini, Exuma, Long island, San Salvador, and
Eleuthera.

Also last year, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) this week announced that
the Utilities Regulations and competition Authority (URCA) approved the use of
LNG for energy generation in New Providence following thorough vetting by
internationally recognized consulting firm McKinsey and Company.
The OPM described it as another step towards energy reform which means cleaner
more reliable energy that is cost effective for all Bahamians.