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Cooperative Coalition’s Response to Barbados Power Outage 21 Sept 2023

Posted as a comment to the Development by any means blog by Trevor Browne of the Cooperative Coalition, Intervenor – BLPC Rate Hearing 2021

t browne
Trevor Browne – Cooperative Coalition,
Intervenor

Having participated in the now two-year-old BLPC Rate review process, the representatives of the Coalition of Cooperatives are not surprised at the recent island-wide blackout experienced by the BLPC.

There is no question about the complexity of maintaining an isolated island electric utility, twenty four hours a day, and every day of every year.

However BLPC has been characterized by; 

• the clear lack of strategic planning towards the National Energy Policy
• the refusal to invest in new plant now for over a decade since this has been known to be
needed
• massive cuts in maintenance systems and expenditure,
• and an alarming emphasis on extracting dividends that has been way out of proportion to past history for BLPC.

It seems intuitive that the price to be paid for such a strategy by BLPC will eventually be seen in increasing unreliability, outages and poor customer service. Indeed, it is our considered opinion that, were it not for the high quality of staff at BLPC and their personal commitment to serving Barbados, such outages would by now have been a regular feature of BLPC operations. However even such dedication has its limits.

Unless adequate resources are allocated for system maintenance and upgrades, more and more situations will arise to disrupt service to customers.
Information shared during the current Rate Hearing shows that between the last Rate increase in 2010 and the reporting period of 2021, BLPC generated net income of $635 million.

Of this income, $97 million was reinvested in the Company to upgrade operations improve reliability and upgrade customer service, while $537million was transferred to BLPC’s sole shareholder as dividends.

Prior to EMERA’s influence on such decisions, BLPC routinely allocated over 70% of its net income to improving the electricity network, meeting customer expectations and preparing for future needs.

It appears that BLPC has now been converted into a cash machine for EMERA. It must be then expected that the price to be paid will be increasing unreliability, poor service, and increasing costs.

 

31 responses to “Cooperative Coalition’s Response to Barbados Power Outage 21 Sept 2023”

  1. John Avatar
    John

    With the advent of renewable energy around the world, national grids around the world are experiencing reliability problems.

    A proper investigation into the cause of any electricity supply failure needs to be done and results made public.

    There are many players in the game.

    Each one of them is a utility and all need to be fitted together reliably.

  2. John Avatar
    John

    You cannot regulate a single player in a multiplayer game and expect a reliable result.

    Every supplier needs to be regulated.

  3. David Avatar
    David

    There appears to be some mention of how the introduction of intermittent supply to the grid negatively impacted start back of electricity supply?

    https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxeVY70tFeq/

  4. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    Nuclear/rare earth is still the way to go
    Anytime you can eliminate the potential problem intersections….do so.
    And it will cost less.
    Desperate agricultural farmers will stop growing Electrical crops on their lands.

  5. David Avatar
    David

    @NO

    What will it take for you to stop?

  6. David Avatar
    David

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CxfxvdsgDRr/

    Some people still experiencing issues.

  7. David Avatar
    David

    RE systems ‘affected grid’

    Barbados Light & Power says while electricity been has been fully restored across the island following Thursday’s seven-hour blackout, it admits the process has not been as seamless for some customers.
    In a release yesterday, director of operations Johann Greaves said some of the challenges were linked to the increased number of renewable energy (RE) systems.
    “During the restoration process, one of the biggest challenges we encountered was grid instability, which was caused by the number of renewable energy (RE) systems that were automatically reconnecting to the grid as we restored power to various areas. The variability of the RE systems connected was compounded by the heavy clouds that were passing over some parts of the island at the time. Consequently, some customers may have experienced intermittent outages in the early stages of restoration,” Greaves explained.
    He said workers experienced an issue at the company’s Seawell Generating Station which resulted in a delay in restoring those units.
    “Yesterday (Thursday), our teams received many queries regarding the duration of the restoration process. It’s important to understand that power restoration is a meticulous and structured procedure even more so now with the high level of RE sources which Light & Power does not have control of.
    “Generation capacity is gradually brought online to prevent system overload while trying to maintain system stability. Every restoration is unique and based on the nature of each incident and challenges experienced during restoration will result in varying restoration times. Hence, in these events, offering precise timelines for completing restoration can be challenging,” Greaves said.
    BL& P said that around 11:30 a.m., the disruption was triggered by a fault in the 24KV transmission line connecting the St Thomas and Spring Garden substations. It added that while protection systems are designed to isolate the fault and limit impact to the wider network, they experienced a cascading system failure.
    “Following any event such as this, the first priority is the safety of our employees, contractors and general public. Once we determined there were no accidents, injuries or damage to equipment, we commenced restoration. Restoration to the first group of customers occurred just under one hour after the start of the event,” the release stated.
    Generators
    Meanwhile, the business community is still counting its losses. President of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry, James Clarke, said that they were still awaiting the full feedback for an accurate assessment.
    However, farmers are not reporting any major effect from the outage.
    Both chief executive officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS), James Paul, and president of the Barbados Egg and Poultry Producers’ Association, Stephen Layne, said they did not receive reports about major challenges.
    “Many of the farms that are operating now, especially those which are in the poultry sector, have generators attached to them. I know there might be one or two cases when the generator kicked in that there may have been some difficulty, but what I have picked up this morning, it was not severe enough to cause any significant issues,” Paul said yesterday during a press conference at the BAS’ Grotto, St Michael headquarters.
    When contacted, Layne said farms now had generators that activated automatically after an outage or others had staff to switch them on. The power outage resulted in many retail stores and schools having to close as elevators, escalators, computer systems, lights, cold storage units and airconditioning units all came to a grinding halt.
    Phone and water services were also severely disrupted as most utilities are linked through electricity.
    Paul said while the outage and the heat were not ideal for poultry farmers, especially those with conventional pens, many had systems in place to try to combat the scorching temperatures.
    “The greatest challenge probably came from the conventional pens because some do not have any generators. However, the good thing about yesterday was that the temperatures were not as hot as they were the previous days.
    “That helped the farmers with the conventional pens that did not have any generators. However, there are some farmers who have sprinklers on the top of the pens so in the afternoon, the sprinklers kick in and wet the pen because those roofs do generate a significant amount of heat,” he added.
    (CM/TG)

    Source: Nation

  8. David Avatar
    David

    The following was copied from Tricia Watson’s (Intervenor) Facebook..

    Dear Bajans: BLPC Rate Case Update!

    This is not too long for you to read!

    The Fair Trading Commission is forcing intervenors to go through a hearing process to fight for information that the Fair Trading Commission ordered the BLPC to file in this rate case in its February 2023 decision. We have been formally requesting the information since it was filed in March.
    What is the information? 14 of the 16 Schedules that make up the Memorandum on Rate Base, Memorandum on Income Statement and Memorandum on Revenue Requirement portions of the Application. These contain the information critical to determining electricity rates.
    The FTC refused to respond to our formal requests and I was forced to file a motion requesting the information. Barbados Law mandates that intervenors should have received the information from BLPC at the same time that the information was filed with the Fair Trading Commission. The information is also supposed to be placed on the public record so that you can see it if you want to.
    The FTC claims that BLPC asked for confidentiality. We have never been served with a confidentiality claim for this information. Barbados Law says that if a party in a matter before the FTC claims confidentiality, it has to make that claim in a particular way, file it with the FTC, serve the claim on all parties, and the FTC has to place the claim on the public record. We have searched and asked for any such claim – nothing. To be clear – the BLPC cannot secretly ask for confidentiality. But this is the same Fair Trading Commission that accepted an Application with 300 completely black pages, until I told them that’s not the way confidentiality requests work, that it’s impossible for the entire page, including the margins, to be confidential.
    This is the Fair Trading Commission actively keeping information filed by BLPC in keeping with an interim order away from intervenors who are the parties working in consumers’ interest in this crucial rate case.
    This is the Fair Trading Commission making intervenors who have severely limited resources, compared to BLPC/Emera and to the same Fair Trading Commission, jump through hoops to fight for every single right to participate fully in this rate case process.
    And let us be clear, it is the analysis, interrogatories, arguments and cross-examination by pro-consumer intervenors that led to the February 2023 denial of the rates being sought by the BLPC.
    Come to think of it, BLPC says that they filed the information, but the Fair Trading Commission has never said that they have it.
    We will continue to inform you, and to fight on your behalf!

  9. Hopi Avatar
    Hopi

    Happy Autumnal Equinox to the True Children of Yisolele, the Bantu, all 12 tribes scattered throughout Mother Earth. This is the day the Sun crosses the Equator. This is the day that Your Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

    Never mind that your artificial light was shut off, Never ever let that Sun/Soul/Light within you die.

  10. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @David
    Candu vs Can’t do?
    My take away is the BL&P is a franchise which expires “soon”.
    One group wishes to be considered as ‘operator’ Some ideas have been ‘tossed around’.
    Meanwhile, the FTC who seemingly takes its transparency cues from the NIS, has opened its own dodge ball league.
    You own a solar farm? Or is the idea of 600 suppliers of varying sizes appealing?

  11. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    https://www.torontohydro.com/grid-connections/net-metering

  12. David Avatar
    David

    @NO

    This is a highly technical matter you will agree? What seems to be emerging is that the BL&P is being challenged by the introduction of intermittent energy being fed into the grid. The blogmaster would like to have this matter explained better to the public by all concerned.

  13. Zulu Girl's Dance Avatar
    Zulu Girl’s Dance

    “Happy Autumnal Equinox to the True Children of Yisolele, the Bantu, all 12 tribes scattered throughout Mother Earth.”

    African Culture is different to the inherited Bajan British Culture legacy with it’s multiple hang ups.
    I support the Independence and subtle changes it brought to the psyche for freedom releasing the chains of the past burdens.

  14. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    David
    I agree.
    Hence why attempt to shut down some alternatives without a better understanding of how everything fits together.
    This includes the regulatory framework as the FTC is appearing broken.

  15. David Avatar
    David

    Agree we need to have all the options ventilated but it seems the RE plan has been agreed for Barbados between the decision makers. Even BL&P going with solar.

  16. John Avatar
    John

    In a release yesterday, director of operations Johann Greaves said some of the challenges were linked to the increased number of renewable energy (RE) systems.
    “During the restoration process, one of the biggest challenges we encountered was grid instability, which was caused by the number of renewable energy (RE) systems that were automatically reconnecting to the grid as we restored power to various areas. The variability of the RE systems connected was compounded by the heavy clouds that were passing over some parts of the island at the time. Consequently, some customers may have experienced intermittent outages in the early stages of restoration,” Greaves explained.

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

    If reliability is an issue then it makes sense for BL&P/Emera to own and control all the renewable energy systems, but they don’t.

    My suspicion is that it doesn’t matter how cheap solar panels become, the simple fact of life that the sun does not shine at night makes them unsuitable for a utility supplying a national grid where reliability is required.

    BL&P/Emera has a solar farm which they operate in St. Lucy and can and have gaged what sort of performance is possible.

    The fact that the GOB has given incentives to Sam Cow and de Duppy, many of whom are yardfowls suggests to me that BL&P/Emera done know that Photovoltaic farms will not be suitable in the long run.

    I know they have been looking at wind energy for years and that their pilot at Lamberts in St. Lucy has long been disassembled and shipped out. Wind is probably more unreliable than photovoltaics.

  17. John Avatar
    John

    The Fair Trading Commission is forcing intervenors to go through a hearing process to fight for information that the Fair Trading Commission ordered the BLPC to file in this rate case in its February 2023 decision. We have been formally requesting the information since it was filed in March.

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

    It would not surprise me if BL&P/Emera have given photovoltaics a black eye in the information filed.

    That puts the GOB in a pickle because it insists it is pursuing “clean” energy goals which seem to me to be ridiculous.

    If that were the case, then the FTC may well be doing the GOB’s bidding and keeping the info under wraps.

    However I think about it Tidal Energy is a better source of alternative energy, but even that depends on the tidal range (needs to be > 5 metres) which is low here compared with other countries.

    Bay of Fundy in Canada has highest tidal range, more than 16 metres, 52 feet.

  18. John Avatar
    John

    Climate Change is a hoax.

    I was never taken by the lingo as I had spent alot of time studying the weather and living outside.

    Also, the pushers seemed so fake, and the narrative constantly changed. I was around from the time when the fear was cooling and a new ice age and then sea level rise from the melting of the polar ice caps.

    Now I laugh at the efforts of the proponents to make people fear the unknown with no facts or evidence.

    It is all about $$$$$ for parasites!!

    Trump figured it out early too and looks like Rishi Sunak is getting it now.

    When Trump actually pulled America out of the Paris Climate Accord a few months after he was elected, I realised he was really serious, a man of his word and the real Mccoy.

    Trump got nuff respect from me for that simple action.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/news/donald-trump-hails-smart-rishi-sunak-for-watering-down-green-policies/ar-AA1hecE4?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=W069&cvid=6f074834bf4c4defb66d7ed18c137cdf&ei=7

  19. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    These issues are often more complicated than “X is fake” or “X is real”.

    When the desires by some to solve a problem or to make a quick dollar or to do nothing are added to the mix, it becomes even more complicated.

    Then who do you listen to? The scientist who have been studying the issues for years or the googlers who just throw stuff on the wall or those who see everything as a conspiracy?

    Just a mess.

  20. John Avatar
    John

    You listen to people who tell you these obvious truths!!!

    … like, the sun does not shine at night!!

    … and the wind does not blow all day and all night!!!

    … and a rise of 4″ in mean sea level is meaningless when tidal range can be as high as 16 metres depending on location!!

    … and tidal movement will produce the most constant alternative energy as tides are always in motion as the position of the earth, sun and moon dictate.

    …. and El Nino and La Nina exist and their affects on weather at various latitudes have been studied for decades.

    If some hoaxer starts telling you about Climate Change you ask yourself what is Climate and exactly what changes!!!

  21. John Avatar
    John

    Did you know that CO2 makes up 0.04% of the atmosphere?

    … and the expert climate hoaxers don’t know that?

  22. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    The sabe guy said that below 0.02% plant life start dying off. This contradict his insinuation that 0.04% is too small a number to influence life on the planet. He weakens his argument when he mentions that 0.04% represents an increase from 0.03%.

    He has shown (1) that a small percentage change can have a significant impact and (2) that CO2 is increasing.

  23. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    @Rabbit 🐇/🐰
    “… and a rise of 4″ in mean sea level is meaningless when tidal range can be as high as 16 metres depending on location!!”

    You make great points, then the great brains kicks in and takes control and madness replaces common sense.

    (1) 16 metres is approximately 50 ft. Very few places on earth can tolerate such a change
    (2) in fact, the 4″ that you say is meaningless would be of great concern to many places on this earth.

    So let us throw out the 16 metres and start worrying about any increase that there is.

    Make your points, but when you start to get that ‘brilliant feeling’s please stop 🛑. That is when
    the train runs off the track and
    the great brain start to crack
    and
    push out ideas that are wack

    Wishing you a rabbit hole free day.

  24. John Avatar
    John

    TheOGazerts on September 26, 2023 at 3:51 AM said:
    Rate This

    The sabe guy said that below 0.02% plant life start dying off. This contradict his insinuation that 0.04% is too small a number to influence life on the planet. He weakens his argument when he mentions that 0.04% represents an increase from 0.03%.

    He has shown (1) that a small percentage change can have a significant impact and (2) that CO2 is increasing.

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

    The more CO2 means the plants will thrive.

    CO2 is their food!!

    “Plants use sunlight, carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and water for photosynthesis to produce oxygen and carbohydrates that plants use for energy and growth. Rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere drive an increase in plant photosynthesis—an effect known as the carbon fertilization effect.”

  25. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    @Rabbit,
    You have a tendency to look at a situation and pick only what suits your point of view. It is usually my inclination to provide you with an educational link to bring you up to speed. Given your refusal to pay attention, I have decided on a policy of tough love.

    Please google “How CO2 affect climate change”?

  26. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Sea ice that packs the ocean around Antarctica hit record low levels this winter, the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said on Monday, adding to scientists’ fears that the impact of climate change at the southern pole is ramping up.

    Researchers warn the shift can have dire consequences for animals like penguins who breed and rear their young on the sea ice, while also hastening global warming by reducing how much sunlight is reflected by white ice back into space.

  27. John Avatar
    John

    Grasshopper

    Anyone who says the earth is billions of years old and claims to know how much CO2 is present in the atmosphere is not worth listening to.

    Take a look at revelations earth scientists are making available to us. I posted this a while back. It is a series worth watching.

    What is the proof that rising, or falling CO2 levels affect temperature?

    As you often repeated, correlation is not causation!!

  28. John Avatar
    John

    Trust me, it isn’t going to be Climate Change that determines the fate of the World!!

    Climate Change hoaxers can be ignored.

  29. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ John on September 26, 2023 at 4:17 PM said:

    “Anyone who says the earth is billions of years old and claims to know how much CO2 is present in the atmosphere is not worth listening to.”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Tell us how old is Mother Earth, then, Doc Jekyll of Science and Mr Hyde of religious mumbo-jumbo?

    Is it, Mr. Schizo, 10,000 Jewish solar years or a mere Christian 2,023?

    But what other line of argument can we expect from a ‘johnny’ who still insists in spouting the ‘theory’ from a book of mythology that the Sun was “created” after the planet called Earth and, up to this point in time, still revolves around that speck of rock and water in the Milky Way?

    Yes, we all agree that plants /trees absorb CO2 to survive just as mammals, like humans, need Oxygen to live on this planet called Earth.

    What do you think would happen when humans- who in less than 200 years since the beginning of the industrial revolution- put back into the same atmosphere the same amount of CO2 which took Mother Nature millions of Solar years to bury in the belly of the Earth in the form of fossils?

    What do you think would happen when the natural carbon sinks, like the oceans and mangrove swamps, become overloaded and are destroyed by human activities like the generation of electricity from fossil fuels and the burning of petrol and diesel to run vehicles?

    What do you think would happen when the rate of deforestation (as was taking place in the case of the Amazonia carbon sink basin and its equivalent in Central Africa) far exceeds the rate of consumption of the same CO2 by the contracting number of plants and trees absorbing the same CO2 in order to provide the same oxygen needed by mammals like us?

  30. John Avatar
    John

    “Each year in the United States, the logging industry is estimated to harvest 900 million trees and replant approximately 2.5 billion trees. This ratio equates to a reforesting ratio of just over two and a half trees for one every tree harvested.”

  31. John Avatar
    John

    I would suggest that if you live in an area that is rapidly being covered in concrete and housing that it is easy to embrace the climate change hoax.

    The absence of greenery oppresses and depresses us.

The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.

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