Baha Mar Defends Generator Use During Power Crisis
BAHA Mar Senior Vice-President Robert Sands has defended the practice of major businesses switching to backup generators when the electricity grid is strained, describing it as “good corporate citizenry” as New Providence continues to grapple with recurring power outages.
His position contrasts with that of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation, which has warned that businesses are already being squeezed by high taxes, rising costs and regulatory burdens and has raised concerns about the additional expense and lost productivity caused by unreliable electricity.
BPL has blamed recent outages on a combination of equipment faults, underground cable failures, overloaded circuits and high electricity demand during the summer heat.
The utility has appealed to government agencies, large businesses and other customers to reduce their reliance on the grid as the system approaches capacity.
Mr Sands said Baha Mar and other major corporate entities have cooperated with Bahamas Power and Light for years by switching to standby generation when the grid comes under pressure.
“This is not a new occurrence, and I think that’s good corporate citizenry in a country where entities like Baha Mar do well and benefit from the country,” he said. “It’s only important that we support and give back to support the country through challenging times.”
His comments come after repeated power disruptions across New Providence, including in western communities near Baha Mar such as Old Fort Bay, West Winds, Sandyport and Turnberry.
Residents in Love Beach and other western communities have also reported extended outages, some lasting nearly 24 hours.
BPL Chief Operating Officer Anthony Christie has said several circuits were overloaded and transformers were operating at peak capacity, forcing the utility to balance loads and relieve pressure on equipment to prevent further damage.
Deputy Director of Energy Verron Darville has also said government agencies and large private customers with backup generation capacity were being asked to come off the grid during periods of peak demand so more electricity could remain available for residential customers and small businesses.
Mr Sands said operating Baha Mar on its generators has not disrupted the resort or impeded tourism growth, although he acknowledged that the outages have been an irritant.
“No impact at all,” he said. “It’s been an irritant,” he said yesterday on the sidelines of an event at the National Art Gallery.
Mr Sands said BPL should be given an opportunity to implement its plans and argued that reliability has improved significantly in recent months.
“We have to be patient,” he said. “These are some stumbling blocks, but by and large, we have been supportive of the progress and also the future of BPL. And even as I said, it has been an irritant, but it has not been a stumbling block to the growth of tourism in our country.”
He declined to disclose how much Baha Mar spends to operate on generator power, saying the resort pays the applicable diesel cost.
“The cost is the cost,” he said. “Whatever the diesel charge is, that’s the diesel charge. But I can assure you that BPL is fair to those corporate companies, etc and I will just leave it at that.”
The Chamber, however, has taken a more critical position on the effect of the electricity crisis on the private sector.
Chief executive officer Leo Rolle has said businesses are already contending with high taxes, rising costs and regulatory burdens, while repeated outages are resulting in lost productivity and additional operating expenses.
The Chamber has called on the Davis administration, BPL and Bahamas Grid to provide a clear plan and timeline for restoring reliable electricity.
It has also recommended expanded energy audits, grants to help smaller businesses adopt solar and energy-efficient equipment and greater use of duty-free concessions for high-efficiency equipment.
By Lynaire Munnings
The Tribune
August 11, 2026
