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Barbados Gone Dark

The following is a statement issued by the MD of Barbados Light & Power a few minutes ago. Prime Minister Mia Mottley has demanded a meeting with the Chairman of EMERA this evening. Several stories have been floating about social media in the last 24 hours, BU will stay with the official positions issued by…

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The following is a statement issued by the MD of Barbados Light & Power a few minutes ago. Prime Minister Mia Mottley has demanded a meeting with the Chairman of EMERA this evening.

Several stories have been floating about social media in the last 24 hours, BU will stay with the official positions issued by the BL&P for the moment.

Roger Blackman, Managing Director of BLPC
The Barbados Light & Power Company Limited (BLPC) wishes to update Barbadians on the electricity outages that have occurred this week. We recognise that this affects our nation’s productivity and ability to serve your own customers and clients. For this, we sincerely apologise and wish to assure you that we are taking this very seriously. Our teams are assiduously working to bring full restoration back to our island.
BLPC uses Heavy Fuel Oil to produce electricity to meet the needs of our customers. At present, we are experiencing a Heavy Fuel Oil quality issue, which has been plaguing us for an extended period. The presence of contaminants detected in the Heavy Fuel Oil is the main cause of the challenges we are experiencing.
The outage events which occurred this week are extraordinary events originating with a switch failure in one of our Spring Garden substations, and during that restoration process, a second event occurred on Tuesday morning with a fault on one of our generating units. In both cases system protection response is being investigated.
Over the past few months, to compound the restoration and supply issues, we have been investigating oil quality issues which are prematurely damaging equipment used to feed oil to our generating units. At present, generating units that we would normally rely on to supply electricity demand have periodically been shutting down due to the fuel issues and this has slowed the pace of restoration.
We are working with our fuel supplier and other stakeholders to hone in upon the specific cause and source of potential contamination from their suppliers, which is ongoing. We have been staying ahead of these issues while we completed other maintenance and repairs to the remainder of our generating fleet, however, this week highlighted the challenge we have been working through to prevent such an event from occurring.
We wish to thank you for your patience, support and encouraging words as we work through this period. We are meeting with the Prime Minister, other Government officials and the Barbados Water Authority this evening to give a comprehensive update and to provide an update on our status and plans going forward to resolve our challenges. We will of course keep you updated of any significant changes as things evolve.
The Chairman of our Board Rick Janega from Emera is on island and will be a part of the meeting with government.

256 responses to “Barbados Gone Dark”

  1. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @ peterlawrencethompson November 20, 2019 7:46 AM

    Your point is noted. However in sampling inspection there are three inspection levels employed: Normal. reduced and tightened. Reduced level of inspection is used when the supplier is of long standing and tightened when the supplier is new .Even with reduced sampling inspection, the onus is still on the buyer to implement his own in-house testing. As for testing for ketones and aldehydes one would expect such to be the norm, since crude oil would contain these derivatives, Let me again emphasize that the buyer sets the specifications needed not the supplier. The buyer in this case BL and P is sloppy if it did not include the absence of ketones and aldehydes in its specifications. under HACCP/ISO 9000 the onus lies with the buyer.

  2. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ PLT

    The problem runs deep here. In my view when you have ANY monopoly responsible for essential services, they should not be given the right to undertake their own operation blindly. There should be in place the requirement at least on an annual basis, for a state review by a board of independant engineers.

    If I can’t instal an elevator without it being certified by the state, how can an entity as critical as water or electricity get away with it on an annual basis?

    My reason for having an indpendant annual certification body is that we can then go to the next step and introduce hourly fines to any entities who fail to supply service as a result of poor maintenance, or the disregard for addressing discrepancies listed in their annual survey.

    I even got office space for them in Green Hill as the FTC could easily vacate the building as they ain t serving no purpose anyhow.

  3. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David.

    The NIS is a whole other can of worms for another day for sure! You know my concerns there already.

  4. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    Do you admit BL&P is headed by our brightest Bajans? Williams is Chairman and Blackman is Managing Director. You are following this train of thought? Where does it lead?

  5. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David.

    You mean where has it already lead! Lol

  6. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    peterlawrencethompsonNovember 20, 2019 10:16 AM

    @DonnaNovember 20, 2019 9:52 AM
    “Seems like a good reason to kick their asses off and bring in somebody else.”
    +++++++++++++++++++++
    Any other private sector replacement for Emera is going to behave exactly as badly as they have. That’s how capitalism works. If you want a different outcome you have to change the structure of the utility. If a public utility is privately owned then the private profitability will always trump the public interest.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    That is why we are supposed to have effective regulators. It is a battle we are fighting. Surely the government can regulate a utility company! How hard can it be?

    These people were allowed to operate on ALL OLD EQUIPMENT PAST RETIREMENT AGE. Surely we can keep a check on when last they purchased equipment! Surely we can match the equipment against the expected useful life! Surely we can carry out inspections or hire somebody who can!

    How hard can it be?

  7. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    DonnaNovember 20, 2019 10:52 AM
    “…we are supposed to have effective regulators.”
    ++++++++++++++
    The ONLY thing that a regulator can do is enforce written regulations. There are no written regulations which speak to the age of the generation infrastructure, just regulations which specify standards of service and penalties for failing to meet the specified standards. You can read the most recent Annual Standards of Service Report here:
    https://www.ftc.gov.bb/library/sos/2019-07-19_sos_blandp.pdf

  8. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ Donna

    Don’t worry my blog above fixes all of this when I form my new “”Department of Oversight ” I going now and call Grenville and see if he want a little pick”😊

  9. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ PLT

    Regulators in developed countries have powers to order a correction of the wrong within a deadline and/or fine the individual or company. They also have powers to ban individuals and companies. They also must approve all influential appointments ie all executive staff. If not, why have regulators?

  10. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    This is a govt that made promises to correct all the past efficiencies if elected
    But here barbados is today a failed state
    No water no electricity

    helllo

  11. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    It seems as though some contributors are vying for the title of “professional critic,” since they are making certain assumptions without presenting any underlying support for their arguments, and then “intellectualizing” their criticisms in response to those assumptions.

    How many of them took the time out the read NOT only information relative to compensation, but the ENTIRE information provided in the FTC’s Standards of Service Guidelines for the BL&P……. or sought clarification on how the FTC plans to deal with the “power outages?”

    The political stooges put here to do a job on behalf of their political parties will obviously lay the blame of Emera/BL&P’s problems at the feet of their counterpart.

    And who would be brave enough to ask Caswell Franklyn to explain how government selling its NIS shares in BL&P shares to Emera, is responsible for “Barbadians now paying the price with a rash of power cuts?”

  12. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    What regulators
    Last thing u would find in banana Turd world republic

  13. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ Hal

    Look back at our record of regulation and tell me where our regulators ever stepped up to the plate.

    We can go from Clico to the Central Bank and back and the answer is the same. Our regulators are paid by the state and appointed by the state. They therefore are civil servants serving their time.

    Regulation will only come when an independent body free from politics is put in place. Will it ever happen? Probably not.

  14. David Avatar
    David

    @Peter

    The FTC has the authority during rate hearing exercises to attach decisions to conditions? On what basis does the regulator approve rate of return etc if the equipment and capital related cost; amortization etc are not factored? Would be good if Chris Halsall can add to this discussion.

  15. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    John A

    To be fair, former acting Supervisor of Insurance Vernese Brathwaite “stepped up to the plate” as it relates to CLICO…… and was sent on special leave…… with pay.

  16. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ Artax

    Yea that is true and confirms my point that to get true regulation we must move away from having them appointed by the state and paid by the state. They must be indpendant and free from political interference. As I said it will probably never happen though.

  17. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ Artax

    What we need is a state oversight board that is made up of private specialist in various fields. So say a board has 8 members it may have say an engineer, an accountant, a retired senior manager from the BWA and light and power, a renewable energy person etc making up its membership. They will then do annual certifications in collaboration with the relevant entity.

  18. akenatenI Avatar
    akenatenI

    The current government is at fault. Why do we have to wait until 2030 for BL& P to fully implement clean/ renewable energy? Barbados needs renewable energy now . Corrupt politicians & officials at BL&P responsible.
    Where is Minister Abrahams?

  19. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @David November 20, 2019 11:18 AM
    The FTC regulates to allow BL&P an approved regulated return on rate base of 10%. The can indeed write new regulations which impose new conditions which attach to their decisions, but if those conditions impose costs then revenues also have to be adjusted so that they meet the approved regulated return on rate base of 10%.

  20. David Avatar
    David

    @Peter

    Are you saying conditions underpinning FTC decisions are hard coded based on the regulation? There is no wiggle room to determine rate of return based on state of BL&P plant?

  21. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ John A converted. We do not have competent or proper regulations. As to state appointed regulators, nothing wrong with that, but they must be independent by law, reporting annually to parliament. I will also give regulators power to prosecute. We are too dependent on the DPP.

  22. Freedom Crier Avatar
    Freedom Crier

    RE…akenatenI November 20, 2019 11:43 AM
    “The current government is at fault. Why do we have to wait until 2030 for BL& P to fully implement clean/ renewable energy? Barbados needs renewable energy now…”

    If we had PV now we would have no Electricity for Fifteen Hours out of a Twenty-four hour period and as far as I know even those with PV when the Power goes off also do not have Electricity. There has not been a Battery yet invented that can store the PV power that you and I can afford. So akenatenI you are wishing for a Suicide on Barbados. Call up all your friends that have PV power and ask them that when the power went off if they had power and please report back.

    https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a9/c7/42/a9c742d19e79d1612661e1e13b1407d2.jpg

  23. John Avatar
    John

    Let’s for the moment give the BL&P the benefit of the doubt and say the problem is with the fuel.

    How would regulators address such a problem?

    If Emera functions to make a 10% rate of return then the state of their equipment is regulated from within.

    When it breaks down they get no revenue.

    So they make a negative rate of return.

    But if they have no control over the fuel source and there are powers that be that dictate its origins, then we gets what we gets.

    If I were them and was faced with running sub standard fuel through my capital equipment which would damage it I would shut it down until I could get the required fuel.

    I would then apply to the FTC for a rate increase to assure myself of a 10% return on both the capital I had that operated with the fuel and the capital that did not work and was reducing my rate of return,

    But they won’t do that because of the politics so they will accept a reduced rate of return for as long as is necessary for the politics to sort themselves out.

    … and preserve and maintain the capital for a later date.

    If all I could get was diesel at the pump and my car operated on gas I would stop driving my car!!

    If all that was available was a gas that was known to destroy the carburetor in my car, I would also, stop driving till I got the right fuel.

    We’ve been through all that already!!

  24. WURA-WAR-on-U Avatar
    WURA-WAR-on-U

    Look like the cocktail parties crowd, friends, bosom buddies, business partners are in the middle of a having out.

    .

    “Irvine Maloney
    2 hrs
    So guys

    Here’s what the Senior Vice President of Emera Caribbean, which is basically the parent company of the Barbados Light and Power had to say. He just came back from a general meeting of the board, and apparently the BL&P knew this was going to happen years ago. Six years ago the BL&P noticed that their system and equipment were getting old and outdated, and they asked the government (the DLP at that time) for permission to build a newer plant in Trents, St Lucy. They didn’t get permission even though they warned the government that in a few years the equipment would become so old that it would stop working. When the BLP came into power, the BL&P tried again to build their plant up in Trents. But the Minister of Environmental Affairs said that Barbados is not investing any more money in burning fossil fuels, and that the BL&P would have to use a renewable source, which would be ten times more expensive and take a lot longer to construct. So it’s basically the government’s fault.

    Also, the reason the BL&P have faulty fuel is because the DLP made them sign a contract with the Barbados Oil Company, which basically said if the BL&P wanted to continue operating in Barbados they would have to buy oil and fuel ONLY from the Barbados Oil Company, which does not provide fuel of the right quality for the job. One of the members of the board of the BL&P has tried to buy they Barbados Oil Company so that they can import the correct type of fuel, but Mia’s government stopped the sale. So the faulty fuel also isn’t their fault. They’ve tried refining it but, as I stated earlier, the equipment is too old to work efficiently.

    ALSO, the BL&P has nothing, I repeat NOTHING to do with the water being off. The BL&P’s engineers and technicians visited the water authority years ago and told them what equipment they needed so that water could continue to be pumped EVEN IF the power was off. They even offered to buy and install the backup generators for them. But the water authority didn’t want the backlash in case something went wrong with the pumps, so they decided it was easier to let the BL&P take all the blame in case of a water shortage.

    Basically it’s mainly the government’s fault, and Mia is on the radio telling us now isn’t the time to point fingers, it’s the time to get things fixed. But the BL&P cant fix this problem unless the permission for the plant in Trents and the oil company sale are given. It’s government’s fault, and the employees at the BL&P are suffering a lot of backlash for an issue that isn’t their fault.

    Please spread this message so the public knows the truth that the government doesn’t want getting out.”+

  25. John Avatar
    John

    In the case of the BWA similar logic applies to contaminated water.

    It might not damage their equipment but it would open them up to all sorts of litigation.

    So just like sources of water used long ago were replaced because they were known to cause illnesses like cholera and Typhoid, new ways of getting purer water were found.

  26. John Avatar
    John

    We’ve made it to MSN!!

    http://www.msn.com/en-xl/latinamerica/latinamerica-top-stories/barbados-suffers-second-day-of-major-power-outages/ar-BBX2rTA?ocid=spartandhp

  27. John Avatar
    John

    I seem to remember a time when all sorts of newer cars were breaking down side of the road in Barbados because of the fuel used by the owners and the newer engine technology that was present in these cars.

    https://itstillruns.com/leaded-fuel-affect-catalytic-converters-7826145.html

    How did we overcome the problem?

    Change the fuel!!

  28. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    PLT,

    Read those FTC reports yesterday. Thought they were sadly lacking.

    I am reminded of the song “There’s a hole in the bucket.”

    Then write them, dear somebody, dear somebody, dear somebody!

    Then write them, dear somebody, dear somebody, write them!

    How hard can it be?

    Seems to me that the retirement age of the equipment is an estimate of its useful life. It should not have been a long stretch to assume that equipment past its retirement age would be “delicate” to borrow the word of Mr. Blackman of Emera in describing the situation.

    This should have been anticipated by the FTC and recommendations should have been made to the Minister of Energy to include this in the regulations.

    Suffice it to say that as a simple householder I understand that proper maintenance of equipment can extend the life of the some equipment for a short while past the norm but sooner, rather than later it shall stop dead.

    If I were Minister of Energy with a monopoly provider of power to the island I would have thought of that. Mr. Abrahms cannot be blamed for this. He has had his hands full and it has only been eighteen months.

    Artax,

    A former boss of mine used to say, “When fools are talking they believe that fools are listening.”

  29. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Emera Incorporated is a publicly traded energy company. As of 2018, it had revenues of more than $6.5 billion, and assets of $32 billion. Based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada,

    Revenue: 6.5 billion CAD (2018)
    Number of employees: 7,500 (2018)
    Net income: 266 million CAD (2017)

    I believe Emera Inc. will fix the BL&P problem short term while strategising a long term solution that is profitable for them.

    As an aside, The PM is demonstrating that she is truly PRIME. She could fire half her ministers and no one would care.

    Time to end this Minister in the Ministry of spin bowling.

    Buh doan mine me. I jus writin my usual…..

  30. John Avatar
    John

    There is a photo voltaic farm in St. Lucy.

    Huge from what I saw on the outside.

    So let’s say BL&P replaced generating capacity with newer, cleaner etc etc generating capacity.

    Retiring old equipment should then not be a problem?

    https://xenogyre.com/2018/11/19/barbados-first-utility-scale-solar-pv-farm/

  31. John Avatar
    John

    So, who owns Trents now?

  32. John Avatar
    John

    https://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/141588/solar-farm-saving-millions

  33. John Avatar
    John

    If large acreages of land are converted for solar farms the issue of heavy rainfall and water runoff become a biggy!!

  34. akenatenI Avatar
    akenatenI

    BNOTCL imported heavily contaminated quality fuel from PetroJam . The head of the BNOTCL is at fault for this catastrophe. They never tested the quality.

  35. akenatenI Avatar
    akenatenI

    Correction:
    ….heavily contaminated fuel

  36. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    https://www.nationnews.com/IMG/198/90198/november-20-2019-front0335-415×557.jpg

    Boss lady leading from the front.

  37. akenatenI Avatar
    akenatenI

    3′
    Barbados getting oil supply from Petrojam

    Wednesday, July 10, 2019

    BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — The Barbados National Terminal Company Limited (BNTCL) says it is now getting its supply of oil from Petrojam in Jamaica, following the closure last November of the State-owned Petrotrin oil refinery in Trinidad and Tobago.

    BNTCL Chairman Alex McDonald said the new agreement with Petrojam has resulted in Barbadians paying much less for fuel after the company had received several quotations and had been able to negotiate a better deal.

    “It was much more competitive than the Petrotrin deal. The Petrojam, I can’t remember the actual number and I would not want to tell you the number that we negotiated for, but what the closure of the Petrotrin refinery did was allow us to actually get into a position where we could be very competitive,” McDonald said.

  38. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ Hal

    My concern after all the talk is where do we go from here?

    For Instance will we implement a system where each shipment of imported fuel must be lab tested before delivered?

    Who would do this testing enema or the state?

    Who in the future will be responsible for confirming essential service equipment is maintained to standard?

    Will the BWA now seek funding to install generators at their main pumping stations?

    Will the FTC be able under current legislation to fine the power company by the hour for service lost? If not will we make that doable?

    In other words when we done bitching what is the next step going to be, or will we sit back and wait for round 2?

    It amazes me how something so simple can be made so difficult.

  39. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ Hal

    My concern after all the talk is where do we go from here?

    For Instance will we implement a system where each shipment of imported fuel must be lab tested before delivered?

    Who would do this testing enema or the state?

    Who in the future will be responsible for confirming essential service equipment is maintained to standard?

    Will the BWA now seek funding to install generators at their main pumping stations?

    Will the FTC be able under current legislation to fine the power company by the hour for service lost? If not will we make that doable?

    In other words when we done bitching what is the next step going to be, or will we sit back and wait for round 2?

    It amazes me how something so simple can be made so difficult.

  40. David Avatar
    David

    This a a blogmaster disclaimer:

    Many voice notes and WhatsApp messages are being floated in social media. Be aware the copy paste stuff posted to BU.

  41. David Avatar
    David

    @John

    QA is standard in this scenario. How is it different to what the environmental unit does to the quality of water?

  42. John Avatar
    John

    David
    November 20, 2019 1:11 PM

    @John
    QA is standard in this scenario. How is it different to what the environmental unit does to the quality of water?

    +++++++++++++++++++++

    Translate, I will see if I can answer!!

    Does the environmental unit do anything to the quality of water?

  43. John Avatar
    John

    Will the BWA now seek funding to install generators at their main pumping stations?

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    BWA deals with water!!!

    Electricity and water don’t mix!!!!

  44. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    If PM is /was leading from the front how is it possible for PM not to have know the catastrophic possibilities of using cheap oil for running a country entire energy system
    The PM as usual would jump to the frontline for photo op
    However country needs to know what alternative solution that are viable in resolving this catastrophe with immediacy

  45. John Avatar
    John

    No sense BL&P getting into the pumping and distribution of water.

  46. FearPlay Avatar
    FearPlay

    If BNOC is able to foist unclean fuel on BL&P, maybe the numerous complaints that we, the ordinary motorists, made over the years were not entirely without merit.

  47. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    All fingers eventually points to present govt
    A govt who in 18months have prefer quick fixes rather than planning and looking for long term solutions
    Garbage in garbage out
    Question When is the minister of the environment going to issue a press release on severity of the impact on tge sewer system
    Or is he awaiting to hear a public outcry when sewage begins to back up in the pipe lines that are linked to homes

  48. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ John.

    Your argument makes no sense. If their job is to distribute water and the distribution requires a stable supply of power, how can you say they should not ensure their revenue stream by installing generators?

    The problem is the BWA does not look at what it does as a business, nor do they see water as a saleable commodity like say cheese or bread.

  49. David Avatar
    David

    @John

    The environmental unit periodically test water quality no so?

  50. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    The BWA should have been weaned from BL&P power supply a long time ago given its strategic importance,

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