Once upon a time Barbadians held Barbados Light & Power (BL&P) in high regard. The country never experienced outages with the frequency of recent years. Last week the country experienced another countrywide outage which seems to be a ‘BL&P error’ although predictably the monopoly was vague in its explanation of what triggered the nationwide outage.
One does not have to be an electrical engineer to conclude that the BL&P has a power quality challenge. To be clear – the definition of power quality equates to RELIABILITY. The leadership of the growing monkey population is fed up with having to deflect blame every time there is a problem with the power grid.
What is the problem with BL&P being able to deliver on power quality?
Does the current state of play represent a failing of the Fair Trading Commission (FTC)?
The FTC is empowered under the law to protect consumers and equitably regulate utility companies in Barbados. Again one must conclude that the FTC has ‘lost the plot’.
It was embarrassing to listen to Prime Minister Mottley during the recent budget presentation venting frustration at the BL&P and FTC. The inability of the FTC and BL&P to efficiently dispatch the current rate increase request is analogous to the moribund state of the local judiciary. Given the dire economic circumstances Barbados continues to battle should demand a sense of urgency from stakeholders in the process to dissolve and resolve issues. The blogmaster is not naive to be unaware of the ‘game’ being played by EMERA, Canadian parent of BL&P. EMERA is a best in class energy company which should make reliability of the local grid a non issue.
There are multiple blogs posted how one of our best companies – a strategic asset – was ‘divested’ to EMERA. Who has forgotten the passive position taken by the National Insurance Board in the matter, a 23% shareholder at the time. To quote Opposition spokesman Clyde Mascoll in 2011.
The consequences of selling the NIS shares are not the same as selling the shares of the Barbados National Bank,…BL&P is a monopoly which is profitable and is guaranteed to be profitable for several years to come…The most important consideration is that the NIS needs to have long-term investments to help finance its long-term obligations (pensions and benefits). Investment…There is no benefit in selling shares with impressive high rates of return to have to search for alternative investments; there is hardly a better investment in town.
If Caribbean governments were not adept at being inept the blogmaster would have recommended the N word back then.
Foreign owned. They don’t care. We have brought this upon ourselves.
The argument will again be made for the full rate increase because, “We cannot otherwise ensure the reliability of the grid.”
Better said as, “Our shareholders require even greater profits.”
What do we expect?
Don’t blame the FTC either. For it is merely a creature of the system.
There is nothing unique about the FTC, nothing indigenous.
Like everything else, over and over again, this should have been the expectation once international rentiers are given monopoly power, pun intended.
Of course, they come with an assortment of structures and liked minded agencies, like the IMF and World Bank.
The World Bank which is essentially an arm of the Defence Department of the USA.
Working in unison, an economic war has long been declared on Barbados aimed at the extraction of the peoples’ life’s blood.
Less quality services for higher guaranteed profits.
The questions have been and still are – when will these facile critiques go to the centre from whence these manifestations derive.
How much longer must this public masterbation go on before the writer decides that some real action is better?
What else must happen before that boiling frog realizes that a war has long been declared under the guise of his much favoured “democracy”?
The blogmaster is not naive to be unaware of the ‘game’ being played by EMERA, Canadian parent of BL&P. EMERA is a best in class energy company which should make reliability of the local grid a non issue.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In which energy company class has EMERA EVER been best Boss?
Have you seen the public opinion polls of Emera in their home State? It appears that this is an entity that excels at maximizing the bottom line for their shareholders and directors, using WHATEVER means are available, and to Hell with the customers.
It also appears that Barbados has been the ‘sucker’ among its overseas companies – ands been used to cover huge losses incurred in the Bahamas due to hurricanes, with a flawed pipeline project, and after being kicked out of two other Caribbean Islands – who refused to be used as doormats.
Somebody has to pay the piper, and who better than brass….
As Mascoll indicated back then, only total madness (and he SHOULD have added, – or meaningful hidden agenda items – aka bribery) could explain decisions to sell NIS shares in BLPC – then to use the money for what???? Four Seasons?!!
In a NORMAL country, there would be an INQUIRY into decisions taken with respect to this entity…. but it is par for the course ‘bout here in Brassbados.
@Bush Tea
EMERA’s Ytd stock price suggest there is public confidence in the company.
Investor confidence is not public confidence, and utility performance is another issue again…
Let us not move away from the substantive point. The company (strategic asset) was sold to EMERA by who again?
@ David
Don’t be mislead by a stock price. All that means is that the company has place earnings above all else. A high stock price for investors does not equate to a company that puts its client first. Sometimes the opposite is the case. Maybe their formula is that when a choice has to be made between customer service and profitability, they have been directed to place profitability above all else.
One thing is for sure they come in a sad second when compared to the old BLP.
@John A
EMERA is like any other publicly listed company, all about earnings. The upward movement in share price says market analysts are bullish which means EMERA management doing somethings right?
@David, if you are a monopoly or near monopoly in some nations in the ENERGY market – at this time of elevated and dynamic costs/pricing pressures – how the bad-word can your fail to generate profitability or to use your words NOT be “doing somethings right”! 🤷
Come now brother. Anyhow as you and others also suggested it’s about the ‘shareholder’ value so isn’t it all about profitability …
Oh @David, on a ‘related’ (shareholder value) or ‘unrelated’ point (as it’s not energy) 😎 … I saw a headline that a FOX Corp shareholder is laying a suit against the Board for ‘failing to curb’ false elections conspiracy misinformation .. something about not fulfilling their mandate as a media company!
I was completely taken aback by that as I don’t see the merits of his case based on the fact that all reports have shown that the Board were totally focused on his and all the shareholder value and did what was necessary to maintain and increase their stock value!🤦
Isn’t that what he invested stock to achieve … if he wanted ‘honesty in journalism’ then go invest in NPR or maybe ‘Consortium News’ — not so!
So back at EMERA you expect good, honest engineering processes to continually produce electricity but does anyone expect that Board to act ‘honestly’ (in near monopolistic conditions) to achieve that!
It’s a freaked out world and we know this! I gone.
Uh Oh, can I blame Monkeys handling gun?
John A
Please name a single corporation which genuinely puts customers first? Above all else.
Just one!
The very nature of the corporate animal is investor’s returns
So corporates merely give lip service to customer centeredness, that’s all.
That is not the point Pacha.
The question is more about what kind of people – and particular, what kind of LEADERS and decision makers, ..would hand 100% CONTROL over to such corporate predators for a few pieces of silver? ….and what would have incentivized them to be so naive and traitorous.
Perhaps you can address that enigma from your vast corporate experience…
GOB has decided to allow Sam, Cow and de Duppy (read yard fowls who want to make a fast buck, family to politicians and other such individuals) to apply for and put down solar farms around Barbados to supply the National Grid, part of its “Green Energy” strategy to reduce the island’s dependence on fossil fuels.
Emera is not the sole producer of electricity although it may be the largest. It buys from smaller suppliers as well.
The output from these alternative sources needs to be synchronised in phase and must match the frequency of the Emera supply.
Sure their equipment may be very well designed and work well all over the world but the mentality of the owners who are really Johnny come latelies to the electricity supply grid will not match that of a national supplier who has been doing it for years and has faced and solved most of the issues of electricity supply that arise.
It would be interesting to see a graph showing outages by year to see if the situation is indeed worsening and when it began.
My intuition would lead me to believe that this integration is a recipe for problems in the supply of power.
There was this discussion last Sunday about the issue of RE.
https://downtobrasstacks.castos.com/episodes/brasstacks-apr-09th-2023
Stop blaming the monkeys
What is the problem with BL&P being able to deliver on power quality?
Does the current state of play represent a failing of the Fair Trading Commission (FTC)?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
What if the monkeys are those determining electrical supply policies for the island?
How many electrical engineers are politicians?
Quality may not be the issue but or sure reliability is.
This isn’t like a supermarket buying produce from its suppliers. The product is invisible and can disrupt the functioning of the purchaser.
Do we have any Grid Codes?
https://www.irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2022/Apr/IRENA_Grid_Codes_Renewable_Systems_2022.pdf?rev=986f108cbe5e47b98d17fca93eee6c86
“The role of grid codes in building trust between different actors
Grid codes define the technical regulations and behaviour for all active participants in the power system, including power generators, adjustable loads, storage and other assets. The implementation of these codes gives system operators confidence that assets connected to the system will not endanger the security of the electricity supply. Establishing a grid code
is an important step in opening up the power sector to private developers or new plant operators and enabling efficient integration of distributed VRE generators. The purpose of grid codes is manifold and includes ensuring co-ordination among the various actors, increased transparency, grid security, reliability and VRE integration. Grid codes enumerate the technical requirements that are to be followed to keep the system functioning smoothly and to build trust between power system actors. They encompass different aspects of the power system, such as markets, operation, planning and connection.”
BREAKING NEWS.. Capitalism has gone Pete Tong.. More News at 11..
Today’s Lesson
To maximise profit in order to keep shareholders happy, companies short change customers
Today is day number 102 (of 365) of the year 2023.
There are 263 days remaining of this year.
Melt Away
Dub Away
Melting Dub
Melting Pot
Pot of Dub
Side note:
Allow me to place a link here which moves investing well out of “just make some money definition.
Investors have added other dimensions than making money.
Today we you will hear of socially responsible investing
“Socially responsible investments include eschewing investments in companies that produce or sell addictive substances or activities (like alcohol, gambling, and tobacco) in favor of seeking out companies that are engaged in social justice, environmental sustainability, and alternative energy/clean technology efforts.”
However, it may be true that in Barbados Emera falls just withing the money making part of the spectra,.
This could broaden your ideas
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sri.asp#toc-what-is-a-socially-responsible-investment-sri
Grasshopper
What happened to SVB and its socially responsible investing?
Go woke, go broke!!!
Not saying alternative forms of energy are bad because they are “socially responsible”.
But sane investors are not going to invest their $$ in a technology that is useless for 50% or more of the day unless they are subsidized by Government on the pretext that it is the socially responsible thing to do.
Emera too has some investment in a solar farm in St. Lucy, maybe a Government subsidy, but this is a small part of its portfolio, perhaps only an experiment.
Is buying bonds whose value decreased as rates rose, socially responsible investing? It certainly isn’t wise to have as much as SVB had in fixed income. Then again, they had no risk management program.
It isn’t woke, just silly.
Similarly how some Bajans, fully aware GoB Bonds were in trouble, the GoB was essentially broke, found the urge to buy TBills. Something was better than nothing?
And now we have reports that with the local debt-Gdp on the rise, local Banks think it is a good time to buy BOSS Bonds. You already know they were given a choice…lol.
The blogmaster like to refer to it as Hobson’s choice, with the old wutless overseers it was known as the 3Ps.
@NO
Or maybe a way to curry favour to win deals in a market where demand for borrowing is weak but there is opportunity to win NIR business?
@Northern you are being extremely kind when you say: “Is buying bonds whose value decreased as rates rose, socially responsible investing? It certainly isn’t wise to have as much as SVB had in fixed income. Then again, they had no risk management program. It isn’t woke, just silly.”
That is the news that hit the wires and if true is that “SILLY” or willful NEGLIGENCE overseen by supposedly well trained financial executives!
In the world of finance you learn about interest rates and within that first chapter is the direct correlation of rates to bond values … in simple clichéd terms it’s Fin101!
So how in hell can guys of many years of training plus successful practice of the craft NOT hedge their exposure in the face of a US Fed who had SPECIFICALLY said they were going to continue to incrementally raise rates to stave off recession threats!!!
This is a freaking GAME played well by the haves … the CEO is in Hawaii relaxing comfortably it is said; and it’s also ‘alleged’ (according to filings really) that he converted over $1M shares to cash just a few weeks before his announcements that crashed his bank.
My son or daughter may be silly when they perform some of their antics … not this … these acts border on criminal fraud!
What is NIR?
Non interest revenue
@dpd
You can review the Fed and BoCanada outlook in Oct 2021 and they were telling the market that rates would remain as is in the ‘forseeable’ future.
Despite the training you refer to, appreciate most have never seen an overnight Fed rate at 5%. AND they bought bonds BEFORE the Fed began raising rates. Remember the rate when the Fed began raising was <1%.
The "hope" was it would be a 3% ceiling. By the time they realised they were exposed, it was too late. And had there not been a "run", they would likely be 'fine' in a year. The run forced them to dispose of bonds at a huge discount. Had they held them to maturity they would get 100%.
De ole matching thingie.
David
The Banks love that game 😂
@NO
The central bank must be complicit if the game is being played. Many forget the conspiracy between a DeLisle Worrell led Central Bank and banks with the doing away of the minimum savings interest rate to manufacturer the public’s appetite for government bonds pre 2018.
@Northern, fair enough that they had 1) “bought bonds BEFORE the Fed began raising rates” and more importantly that 2) “had there not been a “run”, they would likely be ‘fine’ in a year.”
However, it’s still perplexing (read as freaking negligent) that this bank particularly was so exposed to the bond risk (and overall debt load) that a run catspraddled them!
If you note that the Fed and BoCan gave guidance since ’21 that market rates would remain as they were close to zero then you also MUST note that the Fed also very specifically always said (clichéd tho it be) that their guidance was “DATA DEPENDENT” … and as you know that guidance then changed dramatically in mid 2022 or thereabouts when the data started flashing ‘recession” and they thus stopped the free money parade a lil bit with a 1/4 % increase or as they say a 25 basis point uptick!
So when you say an “overnight Fed rate at 5%” I am unclear why you phrase it such … these bankers were warned; prompted to be prudent and otherwise told “look out” as the Fed got up to the current % after NINE incremental upticks over a whole long year … yet they were supposedly caught exposed, too late … fah trute!
Sorry good sir, I can’t buy your shares here today!😎🤣
End to the dollar!
https://www.ft.com/content/669260a5-82a5-4e7a-9bbf-4f41c54a6143
@dpd
I have no shares. They were negligent with their depositors money.
@David
I got your drift immediately. Didn’t that also involve changes to the reserve requirements.
Would love to see the legal documents protecting BOSS holders from any future “restructuring”.
If GOB offers subsidies to woke enterprises on the basis that they are woke, it will go broke and need a bail out from somewhere!!
Money is lost not made in such ponzi scheme.
It just passes from one set of hands to another.
How many billionaires in the world became billionaires from such schemes?
They did not follow the capitalist system and make their money they became parasites, financed by the Government and its parasitic dependence on the capitalist system.
Ultimately, the capitalist system that delivers jobs, incomes and taxes collapses and after a time, “We all fall down”.
Define “woke”! Must you parrot EVERY stupidity that comes from American and now British right-wing extremists?
“WOKE” is an African-American term that has been hijacked by white racists.
It is bad enough to hear it from them. But if you are going tp start it here, I gone again.
Steupse man!
It’s not worth the aggravation.
“Define “woke”! ”
awakened, enlightened
having or showing a rational, modern, and well-informed outlook.
racist white scum in politics are like children trading insults in the playground
Fuck Trump!
Fuck USA!
Fuck UK!
Fuck Australia!
SVB weren’t investing their money in safe-as-houses Fixed Income Instruments they were investing Clients money they had in safekeeping accounts.
They would have creamed profits fro OPP other people’s property.
They were too greedy and deserved to fuck up bad.
In Barbados oligarchs control the government, all governments.
In Barbados corporations control the government.
As in America, under these market-based systems, like Barbados, markets control the government.
Of course, markets are never free, never fair, never democratic. As a result ordinary people are at the tender mercies of irrational market behaviours, like short selling.
In China and Russia, the government controls the markets, the oligarchs, the corporations. And the people are the government.
China will grow their economy by over 5 percent this year. Russian will have about 3 percent growth. Nowhere in the West could make these claims.
There is no higher level of democracy as an economic construct than these. Given that unbridled capitalism in the West has led to gross distortions, constant collapses.
The failure of neoliberalism and a faux democracy. A democracy which surrenders the people to the fetishes of the moneyed classes, the rentiers.
In China and Russia, the government controls the markets, the oligarchs, the corporations. And the people are the government
The truth is found in the punctuation..
In China and Russia, the government controls the markets, the oligarchs, the corporations, and the people.
And both have a superior checks and balances. Were SVB in Russia the senior management would be so embarrassed they would have leapt off tall buildings, accidentally fallen out hospital windows or subjected their entire family to murder suicide. Just higher morals.
Pachamama on April 12, 2023 at 7:44 PM said:
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In Barbados oligarchs control the government, all governments.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
What is the national debt and to whom is it owed?
For sure, not Barbados oligarchs!!
The borrower is the servant of the lender!!
Nation Editorial
There is no energy problem on our beloved island.
The engery crisis saga is just an invention of the treacherous opposition. All people I know have solar panels on their roofs, so the ac in their grand halls run 24/7 and the swimming pools are always nice and warm.
If the power fails, the battery from the solar system or the diesel generator kicks in.
Where does the problem actually lie?
Tron, reporter of the true Barbados
@ David
I have no problem with Emera seeking a return but it must not be on the backs of the customer. They need to seek a better return off a more efficient and modern operation.
For example Florida Light Is a profitable company yet it delivers power to its clients at one of the lowest rates in the USA. They have decided to make their production efficient using solar as its base and this has allowed them to be profitable, while passing on some savings to the consumer. What the FTC should do is compare the cost of production of a KW by Emera to others in the region, then use that as a base for a price increase. Don’t tell me it’s hard to do either, all they need to do is facor the Kws produced annually against the total annual audited expenses of the company.
In other words are we being asked to subsidised an inefficient entity with high production Kw cost?
@John A
Light & Power is one of three utilities regulated by the FTC. Who to blame?
What is wrong with light and power they cant keep the power on, messing up one of my productions….we pay religiously for electricity…
Right about now 90% of the island should have already SWITCHED to other sources of power..beastly COLD countries are doing it, the island sits directly under the sun…what’s the problem, other than corruption
..light and power should only be for backup.
The power came right back on this time. They need to keep it on.
@ David
From where I sit it appears that the FTC is making decisions based SOLELY on data being supplied by Emera. Every time they speak they refer to “information supplied by Emera.” Also the decision by the FTC to cut the return paid by Emera to the independant suppliers was based on what? Oh yes the information supplied by Emera.
Is this a case of the wolf advising the farmer on how to secure the hen house?
@John A
There is nothing wrong with information being supplied by EMERA, as the regulated utility requesting a rate review it is the source of primary data. It is up to the FTC to verify and to your point incorporate feedback from intervenors. Unfortunately it seems within the current system intervenors will struggle with head to head interventions mainly due to lack of resources.
John A on April 13, 2023 at 9:03 AM said:
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@ David
For example Florida Light Is a profitable company yet it delivers power to its clients at one of the lowest rates in the USA. They have decided to make their production efficient using solar as its base and this has allowed them to be profitable, while passing on some savings to the consumer.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Florida is not one of the 10 top states getting its power from wind or solar. They get below 20%, the other 80% plus is supplied by fossil fuel. The major improvements in unit cost accrued because America is or was self sufficient in fossil fuels.
Wind dominates in these top 10 states with Iowa getting all of its alternative energy, about 37% and at times above 50% from wind.
Overall, the US gets about 8% of its energy from wind or solar with solar making up about 2%.
Reason is that investment in solar lies idle for more than half of the day whereas wind can be present 24/7.
We should look at wave energy long term, just as we should look harder at desal for water.
We are wasting time with solar, we need 24/7 solutions.
https://e360.yale.edu/digest/10-states-now-get-at-least-20-percent-of-their-electricity-from-solar-and-wind
Electricity costs going up due to hurricane damage and rising natural gas prices.
No mention of solar.
https://www.wuwf.org/florida-news/2023-03-08/florida-electric-bills-going-up-in-april
The state with the cheapest electricity is Washington.
Hydro power from rivers.
“Nearly 75% of our power is derived from the many rivers that flow through the state and the state’s legislature has mandated that 100% of all energy be derived from clean power sources by 2045.”
http://choosewashingtonstate.com/why-washington/our-strengths/low-cost-energy/#:~:text=Renewable%2C%20low%2Dcost%20energy.&text=Nearly%2075%25%20of%20our%20power,clean%20power%20sources%20by%202045.
Water as in the sea is key to our future!!
@ TheOGazerts
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/heavy-rain-major-flooding-south-florida-fort-lauderdale/
David,
I see Abijah Holder’s mother was found not guilty of causing his death by dangerous driving.
@Donna
Yes, she was out through an unnecessary process but all is well that ends well. A waste of taxpayers money.
The story was updated to the two BU blogs originally posted on the matter.
If COVID is still around, we should find out in 3 weeks or so!!!
Dub,
The African American “WOKE” is far more specific. You are using the white highjacked version.
Ok so lets deal with facts now and not fiction. listed below are the 10 leading states in the good old USA in terms of power generation by solar production. I will list the largest producer first and show their megawatt production. The information comes from the publication Ecowatch who are the go to publication for raw data as they publish science based content on environmental issues. Good here we go.
California 31873 MGW
Texas 9311
North Carolina 7132
Florida 7074
Arizona 5247
Nevada 3904
New Jersey 3653
Massachusetts 3263
Georgia 3069
New York 2840
As the figures show Florida is now the 4th largest producer of solar generated power. With the merger there of FLP and Gulf Power that took place in 2021, a new solar expansion program called ” 30 by 30″ has been launched. The plan is to have 30 million solar panels in place in Florida by 2030. Currently FLP is producing a KW of electricity for roughly 29 cents Bds to their home owners. The reason I compare us to Florida is that we have nearly the same weather yearly. We however have the advantages of being closer to the equator for even sun distribution annually and a lower rate of hurricane strikes.
dem folks is de facts.
Woke first came from Buddhism for enlightenment then was used by hippies for freedom and awareness and then by blacks for knowing themselves to become more conscious and radical minded for black rights issues such as #BLACKLIVESMATTER
and Reparations (which made Whitey push back)
[I posted a couple of woke songs but “The Man” cancelled them]
It (word woke) was also used by jazz musicians who got lit
“Jazz is not just music,” the late singer Nina Simone is quoted as saying. “It’s a way of life, a way of being, a way of thinking.”.
Let’s see if they lock up the real radical criminal culprit now…..or play games with this, covering up for the corrupt and pay EVEN MORE….
This lady was grieving her 11 year old baby son…and what did these wicked demons do, set her up with an unnecessary case, WASTED taxpayer’s money to cover up for a corrupt criminal who was warned for YEARS by Town and Planning to REMOVE the illegal protrusion that BOTH governments allowed him to build and refused to remove it themselves…but they know how to tear down other structures….public nuisances..your day will come.
https://youtu.be/ibHdW4P6Rlg
John A on April 13, 2023 at 1:50 PM said:
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Florida 7074
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
That is less than 20% of the whole.
The rest is dependent on fossil fuel.
Even if Florida doubles or trebles Solar output it won’t help because for half of any given day its output will be zero.
All those air conditioners will be useless in the hot summer nights.
Solar will influence rates minimally in Florida which will remain dependent on fossil fuel.
More sensible for them to explore wave energy as an alternative source.
Again what you are saying is not supported by facts.
I suggest you watch the Bill Whitaker 60 Minutes article featured a while ago on a town in Florida called Babcock Ranch. It is powered entirely by solar power and is 100% off the grid. The city is expanding to just under 20,000 homes going forward with all the necessary supporting amenities being there around the clock. Babcock was the only city that had power, water and internet in that part of florida right through hurricane Ian in 2022. You clearly forgot that solar power can be stored now very efficiently for 24hr use. The days of solar systems being no good after dark died in the 80’s.
@John A
There is no need to debate the point about solar as a viable RE energy source.
@David
I agree but clearly they are some who still intend to propogate negativity on what can be a viable alternative to oil based technologoy. Maybe we have Emera operatives lingering amongst us! LOL
I know Babcock Ranch, I have been there several times. I’ve driven around it several times. It takes hours. You chose a bad example!!
It is 1/5 the size of Barbados, bigger than any parish in Barbados.
I am not being negative I am a realist with many years of experience in electrical engineering.
“Sitting on a 7,000-hectare stretch of land in southwest Florida, Babcock Ranch has made a name for itself as the first solar-powered town in the United States. Its power comes from nearly 700,000 solar panels that supply energy to more than 2,000 homes and other buildings, including a health center and schools.”
“The town is powered by an 880-acre solar field at the Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center run by FPL on land donated by Babcock Ranch, the largest solar and storage system in the country. Energy is harnessed from approximately 700,000 panels, processed and fed into the grid from the FPL substation. The power first reaches the town and the remaining returns to the grid to serve other customers. When the sun sets, the stored energy provides uninterrupted power.”
Let’s say we wanted to power the 10,000 new houses GOB wants to build with solar. We would need 3.5 million panels on 4,400 acres of land!! No doubt some of the power generated is fed into the grid and not used solely by the 2,000 houses at Babcock Ranch.
The question you need to answer is how much of the power is backed up with batteries?
Just to put things in perspective, St. James is 7,800 acres, St. Philip is 15,040 acres!!
“Are solar batteries worth it in 2022?
So the key question is… are solar batteries worthwhile? Our electricians get this question a lot too.
The return on investment for a standard solar system is around three to four years. A battery on its own (if you’ve already got solar and you install a battery), it’s about 11 years.”
https://www.solstra.com.au/blog/how-does-solar-power-work-at-night/
In Washington State with energy harvested from the rivers 24/7, no battery backup is needed. The rivers never run dry!!
We should not be wasting time with solar.
The town of Babcock Ranch is for people with money to burn. The 2,000 houses comprise a tiny fraction of the land.
Most is in its natural state.
I went here to see and enjoy nature, not the town which is pretty miniscule.
Somehow, I seem to remember being told that the whole area including the town and the natural area is half the size of Barbados. Ot took hours to drive around on the back roads.
Yup
The whole area is actually far larger than Barbados, 156,000 acres vs 106,000.
The preservation area is 73,000 acres.
The town of Babcock Ranch is 17,000 acres.
https://babcockranchecotours.com/history/
Listen give it up for Gods sake. First you said Florida was not a leading supplier of solar based electricity. You were proven wrong with FACTS that showed they were the 4th largest producer by state and heading for 30 million panels in place by 2030.
Then you said that after dark all solar powered air conditioners would go off. That too was proven wrong when i gave you the name of a town which not only has solar powered electricty exclusively in the day, but year around on a 24 hr basis. Even through a cat 4 hurricane like Ian for that matter.
Now you come with another attempt which again could be easily dismissed, however why should I bother to do it again? Any half reasonable reader would see where you stand when it comes to change. This is my final comment se feel free to continue building straw men, i will leave someone else to knock them down now. Any half blind Bajan taking a drive around Bim can see the masses of land lying idle all through the country. Rab land grand mur and plenty good flat land in bush. We will never get any further as long as people can find every excuse why we cant get it done.
Oh and for the record current battery prices are way down on 3 years ago. Again fact not fiction. All at you now skipper! Lol
Now you lost the solar arguement you put forward on florida production and air conditioners not working at night, you now talking about river water in Washington. Skipper what river bout here you plan to harvest? The trickle at Joes River or the one at thicketts? lol
Anyhow Skipper i rest my case as the point is made and continuing is pointless.
Babcock Ranch Town is a retirement town!!
It is for persons who have made it in life and retire with serious $$.
There are all sorts of services there besides battery backed up solar generation.
What I said was Florida produces more than 80 percent of its power from fossil fuels and that the price of electricity is dictated by the price of natural gas, not solar power.
https://babcockranch.com/why-babcock-ranch-is-best-town-to-retire-in-fl/
Another popular retirement town in Florida is John Knox Village!!
In fact, it claims to be #1 in Florida!!
https://johnknox.com/
John A on April 13, 2023 at 10:24 PM said:
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Skipper what river bout here you plan to harvest?
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The Sea.
Here are the Stats on John Knox Village.
“There are 37,826 residents in John Knox Village, with a median age of 40.2. Of this, 52.01% are males and 47.99% are females. US-born citizens make up 69.22% of the resident pool in John Knox Village, while non-US-born citizens account for 14.62%. Additionally, 16.16% of the population is represented by non-citizens.”
https://www.point2homes.com/US/Neighborhood/FL/Parkland-Pompano-Beach/John-Knox-Village-Demographics.html
People who end up going to these retirement villages are in the financial position to afford to go there and they don’t need to be in their 60’s.
Solar is attractive but it has its issues, like everything else.
It is expensive and most of the investment lays idle for more than half of every day.
Batteries will not change this fact.
All they do is reduce the amount of power that can be sold during the day from the solar supply in exchange for power when the investment lies idle at night.
Payback period is thus extended.
My initial point however was to show that solar farms being promoted in Barbados can cause power outages themselves.
Any other alternative energy technology also has the same problem when it comes to connecting into the national grid.
The two have to be synchronized or else sparks will fly!!
In that situation, were Emera to be penalized in dollar terms then it should be able to turn around and collect the damages from the supplier who caused the revenue loss.
In Barbados that may be a lawyer, maybe even the PM’s brother!!
Giant batteries …. in water!!
How and why did the enslaved Africans of Barbados rebel in 1816?
Resistance among enslaved Africans began the moment they were captured, and took many different forms. Some chose to do the following:
> speak their native language in private
> perform African rituals like drumming
> appear to accept Christianity, but secretly practise their religion
> run away
> poison their masters
> pretend to be sick in order not to work
> damage tools or machinery
@JK
I had seen that earlier but did not make a connection.
Is GP a resident 🙂 ? That would partially explain the alliance.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/power-electricity-renewable-energy-tory-rushton-1.6809515
https://www.instagram.com/p/CrCJMtXpFaT/
Grasshopper
I have no idea.
Just having some fun and exercising a developing ability to think big using the building blocks that have been added to me through life’s experiences.
Never realized why I was shown Babcock Ranch but enjoyed the experience immensely at the time.
The name was too good not to use in this related subject.
Came across this this now, pretty topical.
A Czech energy company has been forced to unplug hundreds of solar panels after they generated more power than the grid could handle.
Electricity use was low in the Czech Republic on Monday due to the Easter holidays.
But sunny weather meant that the country’s solar plants produced a huge surge of energy.
To protect the grid, state-owned company ČEPS switched them off.
The shutdown is proof of the country’s inadequate power storage system, said Jan Krčmář, executive director of the Czech Solar Association.
“What we have been saying for a long time has been proven. The Czech Republic is not ready for the renewable boom because there is a complete lack of storage capacity,” he told Czech news organisation Seznam Zprávy.
So why did the company have to switch off the power – and can they stop it happening in future?
An old proverb warns that it’s possible to “have too much of a good thing.”When storage facilities are inadequate, this can be true of energy.
During sunny weather, solar panels can often produce more energy than the grid – the transmission network through which electricity is moved – can use.
If this energy can’t be stored anywhere, it causes instability in the grid, damaging electrical equipment. In extreme situations, these voltage fluctuations can lead to blackouts.
To prevent potential damage on Monday, ČEPS switched off power plants with a total capacity of about 400 MW, or about a sixth of the country’s total solar energy capacity.
“CEPS decided to activate the curtailment plan after exhausting the normally available operational measures to control the electricity system,” CEPS spokeswoman Hana Klímová said.
Usually, the country transmits excess energy to neighbouring countries – but this wasn’t possible on Monday.
“All countries except Denmark, Portugal and Slovenia were in surplus,” Klímová said.
When solar panels and wind power first entered the mainstream, naysayers claimed that they could never produce enough energy to meet humanity’s power needs.
Wind and solar generated 12 per cent of global electricity in 2022, an all-time high. Last year, solar was the fastest-growing source of electricity for the 18th year in a row, rising by 24 per cent from 2021.
The EU leads the pack in this race. In 2022, wind and solar produced a fifth of the EU’s electricity – the first time clean energy sources have produced more electricity than fossil gas.
But events like the Czech shutdown show the need to invest in storage capacity for this clean energy.
There are plenty of ways to store power for later use. Chemical batteries are often used, as are ‘gravity batteries’ that use the excess energy produced by renewables to lift a weight. When the grid is running low on energy, the weight is dropped – powering a generator as it plummets.
According to a study from earlier this year, converting underground mines into such batteries could provide up to 70 terawatts of energy storage. This is enough to match the entire world’s daily electricity consumption.
But as renewables continue to grow in use, the need for storage will only become greater. Engineers worldwide are innovating and experimenting with ways to meet the challenge. Last year, Switzerland built a massive water battery capable of storing electricity equivalent to 400,000 electric car batteries.
The battery is made from two large pools of water located at different heights. It ‘charges’ by using excess energy to pump water from a low pool to a higher pool.
When electricity is needed, the water from the higher pool is released, and rushes down to the lower pool – powering a water turbine in the process.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/technology/sunshine-vs-the-grid-why-the-czech-republic-had-to-shutdown-their-solar-plants-over-easter/ar-AA19RNqh?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=W069&cvid=30edcef2572f4a46acda57f5b777eed3&ei=994
So, if we wanted to make a large battery out of water, where would we find the adequate volume of water?
Well the Sea has in alot of water.
So, if we could pump sea water up to an adequate elevation and store it in a pond in such a way that the sea water could not get into our freshwater aquifers; we would have a big ass battery with no worry about how to dispose of toxic waste!!
We would just need to choose the right place and protect our water supply.
I can think of one good place in Barbados where such an idea could work.
This is another way!!
Reclaim the electrical energy that pumps water to the reservoirs on a daily basis!!
BWA is probably the largest electricity customer.
https://barbadostoday.bb/2023/04/14/qeh-executive-chairman-juliette-bynoe-sutherland-to-leave-post-in-june/
https://barbadostoday.bb/2023/04/14/tt-ranked-6th-most-criminal-country-in-world/
A bit disappointed that the journalist makes no mention of the position of Barbados
Please google for yourself, but Barbados is ranked at #61.
https://www.numbeo.com/crime/rankings_by_country.jsp
In BT
JUDGE GIVES DIRECTIVE FOR REMAND INMATE TO GET CARE HE REQUESTED
“A high court judge on Friday AGAIN ordered that an aggravated burglary accuse on remand at Dodds be given medical attention”
This is similar to a story where an inmate was complaining of pain and vomiting blood and was just give over the counter medication. That inmate died soon afterwards.
My question: Currently the body count is one (1). Is there some magic number that will make the prison guards take the medical complaints a prisoners seriously. Obviously an order by a judge is not enough.
TheO’s advice:
Somebody need to tell these prison guards “You are not doctors. Get the inmate an initial visit to the prison doctor and then act according to the doctor’s advice. Let the doctor decide if the prisoner is sick or a malingerer; you do not have the training to make that call”.
Do you notice that we seem to have these little fiefdoms where groups make up/acts according to their own law.
We had the police violating attorney/client privileges by taping their conversations.
We have prison officers acting like doctors, not following the instruction of judges and ‘losing’ prisoners.
Do you remember the two patients who were lost in the psychiatric maze for a joint total of 77 years. Here we have ‘doctors’ acting as if they are prison officers.
Then there was the case of teachers being punished for exercising a constitutional right.
Then we have some people who were not allowed to vote. I think a very low level person made this decision(he/she was probably instructed to do so).
It is hard to follow the bouncing ball.
TheOGazerts on April 15, 2023 at 8:18 AM said:
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https://barbadostoday.bb/2023/04/14/tt-ranked-6th-most-criminal-country-in-world/
A bit disappointed that the journalist makes no mention of the position of Barbados
Please google for yourself, but Barbados is ranked at #61.
https://www.numbeo.com/crime/rankings_by_country.jsp
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Trinidad owns Barbados!!!
I would have thought it would have been a tie!!
https://barbadostoday.bb/2023/04/19/bizzy-defends-renewable-energy-policy-and-investment/
she does talk real sweet doh
Jamaica too ?
I suspect this will be a problem for all of the islands.
They are just at different stages.