{"id":8701,"date":"2011-05-18T17:52:57","date_gmt":"2011-05-18T21:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/?p=8701"},"modified":"2011-05-18T17:52:57","modified_gmt":"2011-05-18T21:52:57","slug":"alternative-energies-to-meet-eleuthera-utilities-demand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/2011\/05\/alternative-energies-to-meet-eleuthera-utilities-demand","title":{"rendered":"Alternative Energies To Meet Eleuthera Utilities Demand"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The rising cost to transport fuel to The Bahamas is now embedded in the price of fuel which is now above $5 per gallon, and over $6 a gallon in the Family Islands. (BIS Photo \/ Gena Gibbs). <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eleuthera, The Bahamas \u2013 Expanding utilities infrastructure in Eleuthera has challenged Government to use alternative energies to meet the demand in a timely manner.\u00a0 On May 5, Rock Sound residents got an explanation about why utilities construction takes so long to complete, after a contract has been signed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are looking at further expanding the RO Plant there to address Northern Eleuthera in the future and so we\u2019re looking at improving the entire island in regards to the supply of water,\u201d said Phenton Neymour, Minister of State for the Environment.<\/p>\n

Mr. Neymour told residents that in critical planning for the future, the supply of electricity is always a challenge. He noted that even though some planned developments are taking place in Eleuthera, there were no plans for utilities.<\/p>\n

“I’m of the view that if you\u2019re going to plan a new development, have a new hotel, or have a new resort, the first thing one should consider is the supply of electricity and water and ensure it is adequate.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said Eleuthera\u2019s challenges occurred because the utilities were not put in first.\u00a0 The two major islands that had experienced utilities expansion problems were Abaco and Eleuthera.\u00a0 BEC was losing $7 million a year in Abaco as well as an additional $7 million a year in Eleuthera, irrespective of the light bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to expand the facilities here.\u00a0 It required money.\u00a0 It required some $30 million to put together the power plant in Hatchet Bay to add to the supply you currently were having,\u201d said Mr. Neymour.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is this.\u00a0 We had to first of all find the $30 million for BEC, who was broke.\u00a0 And the second problem was when you order these generators, the waiting time for these generators is up to one year.\u00a0 Once you place your order today, you got to wait a year.\u00a0 Then, you have to deal with the construction of the facility, which also takes time.\u00a0 And so, if you sign a contract today, it could take you two and a half years before you begin to generate electricity and that\u2019s the challenge we have with Eleuthera.<\/p>\n

BEC is now operating the plant.\u00a0 The government is still challenged with supplying North Eleuthera and envisions that within a month to have conquered the major issues affecting the government in Northern Eleuthera.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government over the last three to four years has made a significant investments on the island of Eleuthera.\u00a0 The $30 million for the BEC plant and the RO plant that you are now getting,\u201d said Mr. Neymour.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to put together a plan for the future of The Bahamas.\u00a0 I\u2019m an engineer and one of the first things we are taught to do is to plan, prepare, design and then construct. Then operate.”<\/p>\n

Minister Neymour said the plan for a national energy policy is in preparation for the future and because the cost of gasoline and oil and diesel is rising.\u00a0 In The Bahamas, 99 percent of the energy is by petroleum products.\u00a0In 2008, oil went up to $147 a barrel and gasoline went up to almost $6 a gallon.<\/p>\n

“We are headed there again,\u201d\u00a0\u00a0said the minister.<\/p>\n

By Gena Gibbs
\nBAHAMAS INFORMATION SERVICES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Expanding utilities infrastructure in Eleuthera has challenged Government to use alternative energies to meet the demand in a timely manner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[40,59],"class_list":["post-8701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local","tag-government","tag-islands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8701\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}