Dedicated to lighting up the lives of the people
MEETING THE NEED FOR ELECTRICITY IN DIVERSE ISLAND LOCATIONS WAS NEVER GOING TO BE EASY. THE TASK FALLS TO THE BAHAMAS ELECTRICITY CORPORATION WHOSE KEY ROLE IN NATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MAKES FORWARD PLANNING ESSENTIAL

HIGH CAPACITY: A new extension makes Clifton Pier Power Station, New Providence, one of the largest diesel power plants in the world. Above right: The then Prime Minister, Hubert Ingraham, is greeted by Barry Farrington at the opening ceremony

THE BAHAMAS ELECTRICITY CORPORATION generates and distributes electricity to New Providence, the nation’s capital, Nassau, and all major populated communities in the Family Islands–but not to Grand Bahama.
As the nation’s electricity provider, it plays a key role through efficient maintenance of generation and distribution networks and the introduction of additional capacity as it is needed to facilitate the growing economy.

Established as a public corp-oration in 1956, the BEC has seen demand for electricity soar over the last 40 years. Today, it meets the needs of more than 80,000 citizens and boasts assets of almost half a billion U.S. dollars.
New Providence Island and Nassau, the nation’s political and economic center, account for 85 percent of BEC’s customer base, with the demand led by tourism and industry.

J. BARRIE FARRINGTON Senior Vice-President of Administration of Bahamas Electricity Corporation

In January, BEC signed a $21 million contract with Siemens that paves the way for Phase III of the New Providence power expansion project, including new substations, underground circuits and transmission lines. Phase II of the project involved the installation of a 30 MW slow speed diesel generator–the Clifton Pier Power Plant had to be expanded to accommodate it–and a 132Kv overhead transmission line.
The Phase III project is expected to be completed by March 2003, with a further $11 million being spent on redevelopment of the corporation’s administrative offices, workshops and ancillary facilities.
Providing electricity to the diverse island locations of the Bahamian archipelago is no easy task, as J. Barrie Farrington, Senior Vice President of Administration, explains. "The challenge facing The Bahamas Electricity Corporation is: how do you support investment and development and infrastructural expansion ? We are not a single island, we are not compact, we are not in an area that is easily administered or managed.

"Basically, we have to replicate everything–telephones, water and electricity. As part of the previous government’s mandate, we electrified all of the major settlements in all of the Family Islands and have spent an enormous amount doing that. It requires a fair amount of planning to understand whether investors are coming in, what kind of construction they are going to be engaged in and what demands are going to be made on electricity. Then we have to do our own forecasting to meet those demands.
"We work on a 10-year plan, so we are always thinking of building in factors, having regard for what we envisage being the need for development within the country."
The corporation, which has been earmarked for privatization, already enjoys a high degree of independence and autonomy in the way that it operates. "The government relies upon the board of BEC to understand what
government policies are and to effect those policies, and will not generally interfere at all in the work of the corporation," says Mr. Farrington.

He adds that the board "subscribes entirely to the basic approach of privatization" and that preparations are sufficiently advanced for it to proceed "fairly rapidly" once the green light is given. "We see the sense of having a strategic partner who could contribute resources, experience and know-how," he adds.
"In our opinion, an investor or partner does not need to be an equal equity holder with the government. The important thing is that an investor has operational control. The corporation has to be unfettered and I think what is likely to happen is that the composition of investors will be government, Bahamian citizens, institutions and employees."

Mr. Farrington believes the transition could be accomplished with minimal dislocation of workers. Staffing levels have been kept down through contracting non-core function jobs and using outside specialist contractors for major overhauls of engines. Employee productivity has also been improved. "Notwithstanding the amount of expansion that has occurred at BEC, our workforce has not grown," says Mr. Farrington. "We have about 1,000 employees and we have been in that range for five-six years."
High priority is given at BEC to ensuring that the skills of its workers are continuously developing and to keeping pace with technological changes.
"We are always improving software and adding to our capabilities electronically to do things quickly and efficiently," says Mr. Farrington.

Customer satisfaction is of paramount importance and behind the corporation’s light-hearted slogan–‘We light up your lives’–lies what Mr. Farrington describes as an "unrelenting pursuit of excellence."
"Being the sole provider of electricity in the country, except for Grand Bahama, BEC is obliged to be critically sensitive to the needs of its customers and to further sustaining economic growth generally," he says. "This obligation must be discharged through the provision of safe reliable and cost-effective electricity."