CUC warns of more blackouts
(CNS): Grand Cayman’s power provider says that all its customers across the island could be experiencing blackouts until May as a result of further problems with the firm’s generators. This weekend customers from West Bay to Bodden Town suffered a number of power cuts from the early hours of Sunday morning. The firm said it was forced to shed load on Sunday after technical problems led to a temporary reduction in generating capacity and it would continue to cut power to groups of customers throughout Monday. The firm has said that until the major generators that are undergoing repairs are back on line blackouts could continue for several more weeks.
As the weather begins to heat up, local homes could get decidedly uncomfortable with no electricity to run fans or air conditioning. CUC has said, however, that it will rotate the power cuts so that no single area is singled out for extensive power cuts.
"Repairs are being carried out on the two engines so we have had to resort to rolling blackouts," Vice President of Production, David Watler, said Monday. "This means that we have to take feeders off the system for up to an hour at a time. Repairs to one of the units will be completed later today and should restore adequate capacity. The second unit may also be available during the next 24 hours.”
Back in February in the wake of the mechanical failure of one generator and two major explosions, one of which saw two employees injured, CUC said the that there would be an increased risk of blackouts if other generators encountered problems.
The repairs to these damaged large units are still on schedule tobe completed in early May, the firm said, but general maintenance work and generator failure means the firm could find itself short of generating capacity between now and when the work is finished, though it said it is currently working to connect a temporary mobile generator which it recently imported.
“We will be marginal with capacity reserve for another 2 to 3 weeks or until all mobile units are on line,” Watler said as he offered CUC’s apologies for the inconvenience the disruptions may cause.
In February, CUC’s president and CEO told the media that no customers would be without power for more than an hour at a given time as any need to cut capacity would be rotated across the districts.
He revealed at that time peak demand was running at around 85 mega watts, and with several units out of commission, CUC only had a capacity of 95 mega watts. He said there was a need to increase the excess capacity in order to deal with surges in use and to cover any further maintenance problems.
Two units undergoing routine maintenance were expected to be back in action in a couple of days, he said, taking capacity to over 100 mega watts. It is not clear if those generators are now back in action.
CUC is reportedly still investigating the recent explosion that severely injured 26-year-old Kurt Scott, who the firm says, continues to make steady progress in hospital in Miami. The second man hurt in the explosion 53-year-old Arney Ebanks, is now back at work with the power firm.
Category: Local News
I would encourage everyone to have a "Blackout Plan" for there place of work or business. Came up with ours today. First step is go lock the front door and have someone stand there as security. Next… deal with back up generators, lights etc. Personally i would prefer that a certain segment of society was not informed in advance as to when our power will be out.
I just got back from the dentist and all I could think was, "please don’t let the power shut off in the middle of this!!!"
The novacaine would were off and I would have to go thru those needles again!
Seems only fair that CUC let us all have some sort of schedule as we are the ones that have to pay their bills and put up with the inconvenience of rolling blackouts.Just dont do it during the Masters golf tournament Thurs-Sunday!!!!!!
I am in total agreement with Peter. DO NOT MESS WITH THE MASTERS!!!
“CUC WARNS OF MORE BLACKOUTS” Ummm… I wonder if the Commissioner of Police is prepared for the amount of robberies that may take place…
Ok, so we heard about the blackouts….what about the some sort of credit or rebate for this? CUC don’t care whether we have jobs or not, if our bills are not paid, we get disconnected. So what is the compensation for the blackouts? Will there be some sort of credit on our next bill? Again anything goes in Cayman….
I swear half of you lot on this timline are ignorant attention seekers! The people behing the name CUC are human being like you and i cut them some slack!
CUC – if you know the blackouts are necessary and will be ongoing, please create and post a schedule.
Great idea And let us know where to find it please.
As far as I can tell, CUC knew they were going to do this, knew when they were going to do this and then completly failed to properly inform the public. I operate a small manufacturing business on Seven Mile Beach. What I produce is time and temperature sensitive – so when the power went out unannounced I lost in excess of $700 in product.
Will it happen again today?? What time? Should I chance losing more $$?
Hey, I can roll (pun intended) with scheduled power outages – maybe I’ll sneak in a little siesta….this is a failure by a company that should (?) know better.
CUC – GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!!
While I think CUC is charging more than they should I think they have other issues.
1. They compare the costs to the US, but then in the same sentence say, we provide more reliable service than Jamacia. So you can compare one other the other, but you can’t compare two different things in the same sentence. Which by the way cost in the US is not as high pkwh as it is here.
2. CUC appears to have been quiet on when the blackouts would occur. YouNEED to communicate this to your customers. As many have noted on Sunday, you may been cooking dinner, may have been washing clothes, or whatever, but NOTHING was communicated. Just be REAL, tell people when you are having rolling blackouts so they can adjust their personal and business schedule. At Caymana Bay, you couldn’t even get the second floor without training personnel in, as the elevators were not working and the stairs were only for employees. COMMUNICATE and people will be a lot less upset.
Thats my rant!
I really don’t care what the reason is for the power cuts just like CUC doesn’t care whether I just lost my job and can’t pay the bill.
CUC is a service provider, I am a customer who has no choice but use that service provider (if I want to live in this century) and I have to pay for the service provided accordingly, no matter whether I got good or bad service.
CUC needs to show some considerations for its customers and at a very minimum announce the power cuts so that people and businesses can prepare accordingly. In addition CUC needs to advise people what precautions they should take to avoid having their electrical items and appliances blowing up on them.
I agree. We should expect more from CUC. My daughter is in school in Swaziland in Africa. They are a third world country and have many blackouts. We, on the other hand live in one of the top countries in the world financially and should receive better service for the exorbitant rates that we pay.And yes, I’m not afraid to sign my name.
Bob Moseley
God Bless Cayman
Publish a Schedule of Blackouts.
CUC must publish a schedule of blackouts so that home owners andbusinesses alike can plan accordingly – if we only knew when the blackouts were coming & for how long it would be so easy to plan. Come On Man!
CUC has been doing an excellent job coping with increases in fuel costs, other operating costs, and pressure from the people to reduce its income.
People are never satisfied with what they have (had), are always looking for a free lunch, ignore warnings that there is none, then force us all down into misery because of their ignorance.
In the longer term, generating power from imported oil is doomed to end. The demand for oil worldwide, already 100 million barrels per day, is increasing by leaps and bounds as developing nations take their share.
In spite of Japan’s nuclear power problems, nuclear fission and fusion is the only answer to the world’s energy needs.
Remember that the Japanese problem was not due to nuclear failure at all. All of the reactors shut down within seconds of the earthquake, and the emergency diesel generators started up and supplied cooling water to the reactor cores. However they only ran about one hour before the tsuisami flooded the generator rooms, and killed the emergency cooling. Then the batteries took over, again as designed, but could only run the large emergency cooling pumps for about 8 hours before they were exhausted. The batteries are designed to provide power while one or more diesel generators are repaired, not if they are all destroyed.
So you see, the Japan nuclear disaster was caused by failure to protect the emergency diesel generators, and nothing else. The battery room was not flooded, so why was the diesel generator room. That is the question people should be asking instead of running around as though their heads were cut off, screaming about how unsafe nuclear power is.
Sure there is a place for solar, wind, wave, tide, geothermal and other alternative energy, but this is not for base loads. Nothing could be better for Cayman right now than large solar power farms to help with the hot afternoon loads. While certainly not economic, given the opportunity and the current conditions, people would opt for it.
You must have some great interest in CUC for commending them the way you are. Electricity in the Cayman Islands is way over anywhere else. I never heard of someone trying to make a profit on a bad situation, do I need to remind you of Hurricane Ivan????
For the amount of money we are paying Island wide to CUC these problems should have been dealt with long time ago. No one should be suffering with constant power outages.
This has obviously been posted by a CUC employee.
The amount we all pay for electricity this is unacceptable. This is the type of arrogant and shoddy management you get when a businesss has a monopoly — dividends over service. If we all had a choice of of another provider, we’d see more customer care. Will CUC be compensating it’s customers for the blackout periods? Call me cynical, but my guess is we’ll all see another surcharge being levied to pay for the essential repairs and maintianance, while the directors take another large dividend this year.
This is unfortunately what happens when you have no competition and therefore no incentive for CUC to improve their service – it’s not like you can actually switch supplier !
Yet another example of greed being allowed to dominate with the ‘right’ people being allowed to line their pockets at the expense of the man in the street…
Also, as far as I’m aware, the diesel generators CUC use are maintained by a well known firm on island who also have a monopoly on parts andtherefore can, and do, charge an unbelievable amount for work !
cayman deserves everything it gets….with its backward, 3rd world method of generating electricity….
Yeah that’s right CUC, we can’t do anything about it when you have powercuts, we have to put up with it, even if it hurts our businesses, but just be a day late paying our bill & you want to cut us off! Is that fair CUC?
It’s a good thing that our population is down by 10,000. What would Macdinejad say if we had another 10,000 air-conditioners that weren’t working to cool those rich ex-pats?
If brains were made out of chocolate, you would’nt have enough to fill an m&m.
Two weeke ago I was informed by a very reliable source that the power outages would start very soon, the main problem being the lack of regular maintenance to the engins to save money.This is a completly incompetent way to run a power utility, as all the old seaman on the island know you must service a ships engine, if not you are in deep s***.
I was also informed that a large number of stand by gen sets are coming to the island very soon, which is a very expensive way to generate power. I would like CNS to ask CUC if this is true, and how much more our bills will be or will they absorb the cost.
I cannot believe that anyone would tell you that CUC is messing with its maintenance programme to save money. I don’t work there but I know people who do and from what I understand, this is so untrue! The guys, a lot of them Caymanians and well trained, I might add, have a detailed maintenance programme which they must stick to. They maintain the equipment based on the manufacturers instructions and it is something they take very seriously. These men really pride themselves in delivering a good service. So let’s not speak untruths just to make the situation seem worse than it is.
I still cannot understand how we can be so uptight over a power outage which I believe was unavoidable. Life is too short people, chill out. An hour without electricity will NOT kill you. We are too spoilt and we need to get over ourselves and not think that we are entitled to all the luxuries of the world, particularly when we so hate having to pay for them.
I read somewhere last year that the Company has to apply to the regulatory body to get an increase so they just can’t arbitrarily increase our bills.
What we should all be doing is checking how much energy we use on a monthly basis and making efforts to reduce it. We don’t have to keep on the air conditioning unit all day and sleep with it on at nights. It will cost you and this is not peculiar to Cayman, anywhere in the world, the same is true. Let’s learn to unplug the chargers, kettles and toasters when we are not using them. Every little savings will help. And the next time we get a bill, let’s take a look at it and see how much of what we are paying is for fuel and how much is our usage. Help yourself to understand these things and stop being so nasty! It is very unbecoming as a people! We are teaching our young people to be obnoxious, uncaring and to be plain nasty. I shudder to think of our future if we continue down this road.
Eaye Dennis, you are missing a point here…
If you run a restaurant or a business that depends on power, if you are in the middle of cooking a big dinner or giving your toddler a bath, no matter how insignificant a task that you are doing, to be shut down without notice when there was ample time to advise everyone, is NOT acceptable and mean.
NO, an hour without power will not kill you unless you are on life-support with no backup, but CUC was well aware of the impending need to do this and failed miserably.
Not everyone is laying back in their hammock like you.
Now you know why people are angry. So back off.
Everyone wanted CUC to give up its 15% profit…NOW you know what it was buying!!……. First World Power.
Isn’t profit what is left over after expenses, such as maintenance? Seems to me they still got their profit by not spending money to take care of their generating equipment.
Man, we sure can whine, can’t we? Is it ANY surprise to ANYONE that the diesel generators are experiencing problems?
We have peaked out as an economy and a nation. Not to say that everything is downhill from here, because that’s really up to us, isn’t it?
Get a loan, purchase $20,000 worth of PV power with a small wind genny for backup, 24-volt fridge and freezer and get it now while it’s still duty free. What’s the worst case? You will save money.
In the rest of the world, the providers of power are on-board with trying to save power and governments will provide incentives to assist with alternative energies. Okay, you don’t get that here, Cayman, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do the right thing for yourselves. Look at it this way: With the ever-rising cost of power, your break-even point will be much sooner than in other places. Hint: Put together an off-grid system, store your power in batteries and use it when you need it.
It’s time to tighten our belts friends, and I hope that’s not news to you. We can make it, but we have to rise tothe occasion. Questioning government is a good thing, but incessant whining without also offering solutions is a downward-spiral that does none of us any good. You are responsible for your own welfare. Nobody else is coming to save the day. It’s up to you and your family.
You can’t eat dissent, and you can’t power your computer with tears.
What do we need to do? Well, for one thing, we can stop blaming all of the three islands’ power companies. Yes, I think they’re making a killing off of us, but what have we, as a country done to provide for ourselves? Diesel is NOT going to get cheaper. The sun’s rays and the wind is free (at least for now). Much as they piss us off, the power companies are doing the best they can. Can we say the same?
It is a shame Cayman has not embraced alternate power sources such as wind, just to name one. If the area of the eastern districts that get adequate wind were designated to be able to supply a token 4 of 5 MW of power with wind turbines, it would certainly take the load off CUC in times the generators are experiencing break-down or service.We have no hydro capability, so solar panels the exception, wind seems to be a source that could be implemented by a private company as a going concern.Meanwhile.. got all the windows open now catching a breeze & some battery LED lighting ready for when the juice kicks off/ BBQ Jerk chicken on the propane grill.
Blame the PPM for this Big CUC mess!!
patetic,i mean really.cuc dosent give a damn about service.we got two power cuts in north side today .
I don’t understand this at all. You say the power went off in Northside twice yesterday. Before yesterday how many times for the last six months were you without power for any length of time? How can you make such a damning statement about a company’s service based on a two hour lack of service? When I read these comments, I can only shake my head and think how spoilt we are and how entitled we feel we should be to have power, water, phone- 24/7, 365 days a year every day, every year and not once in our lifetime should there be a lack of any of these services. Oh! only if we have another Ivan, God forbid. We, as a people are pathetic!!!!!
If I didn’t want electricity, running water and telecommunications 24/7 365 days of the year, then I would move to sub-Saharan Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe or any of the other poorest countries in the world.
However, I am not living in the above mentioned places, but in the fifth largest financial centre in the world and one of the richest countries in the Caribbean. We’re in the 21st century – the age of the space tourist, completion of the human genome project and digital/wireless technology becoming a norm for the average individual. I understand CUC is in a challenging position, but I hope they can do a bit better.
Well, if you know the power is going to be out, you can lock up the store during that time. I agree, I would rather know so I can prepare. No one wants to be cooking dinner, taking a bath, working on something, etcand have the power suddenly go out. Of course it happens sometimes and you deal with it but why should you have to if it can be prevented?
I got about an hour of work done today because even though the power wasn’t off for more than an hour, it kept going off. Sometimes it would barely be on a half hour. Everything had to be shut down then started back up when power came back.
It’s time for Government to press for competition. This is absolutely ridiculous that a company that is licensed to charge us whatever they feel cannot even give us a reliable service.
My fear is that now they will use this to up our rates again. It’s time to stop the madness Cayman. We deserve better!
Obviously CUC really sucks at contingency plans. Simple busines sense for this kind of service would have a contingency plan for redundancy.
CUC you need to do much better than this. Useless absolutely useless!
It would be “nice” if CUC posted scheduled outages on their Website, we are always scrambling to make sure it isn’t us not having paid our bill or if someone has hit a utility pole
I have lived 4 decades in Europe. Never ever have I experienced a problem with power.
Cayman is and will be a third world country when it comes to infrastructure and politics. Pathetic !!
Since our infrasture is so pathetic why are you sticking around? I would bet that there are many countries in Europe that experience power outages from time to time. Maybe you have lived in every country in Europe for 24/7 x 52 x 40.
why do you live here then?
If that is your opnion about life in Cayman, it might not be too late to immigrate back to Europe.
It is unfortunate that a power outage helped you in your decision making.
After Hurricane Ivan, I had no power for nearly 3.5 months. I did nor blame CUC for that
I am a Caymanian living in Europe. I agree, pathetic of CUC for this third world problem.
Could I ask where in Europe did you live? I have been around Europe travelling for extensive periods, and have been living here for over six years. There are MANY services (depending on the country) for which I have encountered that remind me of the 19th century, far less third world – customer service of private and public companies (they’ve never heard of customer service workshops here for frontline employees), opening hours of government services and banks, lack of variety of food in the grocery store and restaurants, the health care system in many European “first world countries” are absolutely appalling at best… all of these which are similar or superior in Cayman. Infrastructure?? The roads, houses and office buildings are just as good and, in many cases, better (which building in Europe do you know is built to withstand a category 5 hurricane?!) than old georgian and victorian buildings that have been ‘revamped’ to accommodate housing, offices etc which are drafty, dingy and dirty. Roads in some countries, especially country roads, are full of pot holes and speed limits that if the road is not known to you, pose a very real and dangerous threat as 90 degree bends appear without warning. And taxes?? I’ll let you think on that.
So please understand, when saying such a sweeping comment as “Cayman will always be a third world country” with regards to infrastructure and politics, that the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side. I could say the exact same thing about these “first world countries” in Europe.
Before moving to a new country, may I suggest that you heavily research your new home. Every country will ALWAYS have its pro’s and con’s, the decision is up to you as to which one outweighs the other. If you are finding the problems of Cayman are interferring heavily on your life, it is always your decision to move. May I remind you as to why you moved there in the first place – was it the good weather, tax free salary, tasty food, year off on a tropical Caribbean island…..
As for the politics, alas and alack, I have yet to see a country where their political system is not full of corruption and alleged bankruptcy. If you find one, please let me know. I’ll shall visit this wonderful country with undue haste.
(Apologies for the formatting, I’m not sure if the CNS website will allow me to paragraph my entry)
Four decades ago would be 1971.
In Britain in 1974 we had severe electricity shortages caused by the Coal Miner’s strike.
Power cuts of several hours occurred daily for months.
The whole country was put on a trhee day working week with a huge reduction in income for everyone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-Day_Week.
Whilst the situation is regretable I believe CUC is doing all it can to reduce the effect on the public.
I bet they wont "shed" some of the customers bills. For the vast expense we have to bear every month to lose current in this manner is a total disgrace. A local store is selling very inexpensive propane generators…..i have bought one and will use it from now on alot as it can easily accomodate my house including the AC usage.
CUC- get real and provide better service. I say competition is NEEDED
Folks, as long as we are using diesel to generate our power, we will always have expensive and potentially unreliable electricity. These diesel generators can experience catastrophic failures and require an awful lot of maintenance to keep them going.
The government also levies a huge tax on the import of this fuel (so they can fritter it away on their overseas jollies) so they are equally to blame.
It’s laughable to hear the government telling CUC to lower their rates when the duty they charge on fuel is ridiculously high.
In the last 5 years, how many Caymanian electrical/mechanical/civil engineers have graduated and are back in the workforce compared to how many lawyers, accountants, psychologists (for God’s sake!), bankers, political scientists, business administrators etc we have funded on full scholarships? And we wonder why we are no closer to solutions?
The successive governments over the last 30 years have significantly added to this problem.
In the meantime, please let’s all do our best to conserve energy so that the creaking CUC infrastructure holds up.
One more failure, and we are in deep sh*t and trust me, I am not joking.
I have not turned on the a/c this year as yet and will hold off as long as I can. (Ivan taught me how to survive without.) Good luck all.
I see this as a tactic to raise our rates!
I wonder is CUC going to pay for any damange to our electronics I have had my power going on and off all day with brown outs and power spikes!
Invest in surge protectors. They’re really cheap.
You do realise surge protectors don’t always work as they are boxes of sand!
Surge protectors didn’t help my internet box.
You are living in lala land, buddy. Get an APS battery back-up or just turn off your electronics if you are not using them.
Time to invest in some solar panels…
WHEN traffic lights go out…..the intersection turns into A FOUR WAY STOP, not the wild west. It was complete anarchy at the intersection of WB Road and Eastern Avenue when the lights went out.
Haha, that is so true.
I like at regular four-way stops whereby people wave others ahead out of turn and also wave when it’s their turn to go. haha.
it is normally!
04/04/2011 15-38
Yes is was bedlem, and were was plod?
we are living in a first world country with a third world country power suppy…..
ooops should be “supply” not suppy
Look closely at your CUC bills. Check the ratio between what you actually use and how much you are charged for fuel costs. You will probably see that your charge for fuel cost is 2 to 3 times MORE than your actualy usage.
Since CUC will be doing these scheduled cuts, can we have the schedules please, so that we can work around them? Another thing, when these outages are made and it causes our electronics to get damage, will CUC repay us for these damages? Better business bureau of Cayman, please investigate and advise the public if we will get refunded by CUC, for these damages caused by their outages.
They should be compensating our businesses for loss of earnings when they have these deliberate power cuts in the middle of the day. I had to close for over 1 hour. Don’t they think???
I read some of these comments with dismay. Before we write so many negatives about CUC, did any of who pause to consider that there are so many people in this world who are always without electricity? Maybe we don’t care. We are without power for 1 day out of 365 and we behave as though the world is coming to an end! I am a young Caymanian and I think some of us are spoilt and selfish. I don’t like being without power either but I understand that machines can give problems and break down. Just like the cars we drive and other appliances we have in our homes. I doubt the people at CUC want to be without electricity but maybe just maybe they did not have a choice but to take it off and as they said for 1 hour of a 24 hour day. People 1 hour!!!!. I have travelled to Caribbean islands and International countries, to the United States of America and there have been power cuts for hours/ days and the people go along their merry way trying to enjoy their lives and are grateful when they do have power. Being without power like we did for these past few days does not make Cayman any less developed than it would if the water went out for a day or two. It seems we as a people just like to say awful things. And we have adopted this attitude that when a man is down we should kick him further down. Is this how we were raised to behave? God help us . When we are carrying on about a few hours without electricity, maybe we could remember for a minute the people of Japan, Darfur, Bangladesh and closer to home, Haiti where people like ourselves are suffering. Spare a thought and be grateful to God that you live on an island where you can get a meal and where you can run your a/c for at least 364 days out of 365.
WE ARE NOT IN OTHER COUNTRIES!!! We are in Cayman. ..one of the richest countries per capita in the world. Thats like saying be happy you have food to eat. I dont need to be I work hard to afford that food and its why I dont live in a third world country!!!!!
It should be noted by all CUC customers that we can help each other reduce these blackouts or avoid them altogether by cutting our consumption during this time.
If we switch off unused lights, set our thermostats up by a degree and/or turn off our water heaters except when we need the hot water then we might collectively avoid CUC having to shed load.
Alan, I really don’t understand how this comment could get so many thumbs down! However, I suspect it’s partially because CUC is unwilling to explain the situation and give the public full information about load factors. Couple that with general ignorance about things like this (before you get your panties in a bind forget the negative connotations of the word ignorance and think of the actual definition – lack of knowledge and education on this specific issue) and most people simply don’t understand that the black outs are happening because CUC can’t supply enough power to meet regular demand with some of the generators out of service.
It comes down to profit why CUC won’t encourage lower powerusage to lessen black outs. If they fully educated the public they would lose revenue not just now but also in the future. After all, people might realise they can do simple things like this all the time!
Because there is a unreasoning mob mentality when it comes to CUC. Alan is on point. GOD FORBID that we should do anything constructive rather than moan and complain. Of course you turn around and blame CUC that the posters did not bother to make an effort to understand the value of Alan’s point.
I’m happy that you will fully understand that I’m not being "ignorant" (vernacular) by saying that the following statement that you made was ignorant (you know the meaning):
"It comes down to profit why CUC won’t encourage lower power usage to lessen black outs. If they fully educated the public they would lose revenue not just now but also in the future. After all, people might realize they can do simple things like this all the time!"
I happen to know for a fact that CUC has always offered energy audits free of cost. They will send someone out to your house to audit your usage and make recommendations on how you may conserve. It’s been available for years now. Additionally, I remember them doing district meetings (which were often poorly attended) where they would educate the public on ways to lower consumption.
So to say that CUC doesn’t encourage lower power usage is erroneous. Ignorance averted.
Overload!! CUC not design for this amount of usage!!!
I think having these outages is a good thing. Best times is at night about 12 midnight when every one is sleeping. Keep it off until 5 am back on and then curn it off again at 8.30 until 3 pm.
If you go to some places like Cuba, electricity goes of every day at those times, but in different areas.
It is ok, and we will get used to it.
That’s a wacky suggestion. This isn’t Cuba. And I’d much rather have it off during the daytime when I’m at the office than when I’m at home and seeking comfort in my own home.
@17.20
that’s what she said
Do you know how electricity works?
Sorry but the issue is the loading on CUC at peak times. it doesn’t matter if they switch off between midnight & 3 am when everyone switches their AC on at 5 in the afternoon the demand outweighs the supply causing issues.
What you "saved" between midnight & 3 am is NOT stored anywhere. As for storing it in Batteries they would have to be cover all of Cayman Brac to provide enough storage for a minute or 2 for GC
This is just great! With all these outages taking place can they offer a reduction in our bills?
Will you use less electricity?
If so then your bill will be lower. Its simple mathematics.
You would think that your electricity would go down but I find that when the electricity goes off your bill is higher. I know this because I’m in Brac and have one of those prepaid meters.
CB has a different provider (CB Power & Light). We don’t have prepaid meters in GCM.
"CUC’s president and CEO told the media that no customers would be without power for more than an hour at a given time"
Last night power in parts of West Bay was off from about 8:15 to 10:00pm
Last I checked, that’s more than an hour
We lost power (SMB) for more than an hour today (Monday)
I wonder if they are going to consider cutting the prices in what they charge us for electricity as well!!
Of course prices will steadily go up over the coming months to pay for the maintenance and lost revenue due to power outages.The key concern of CUC’s profit margin must addressed or we will be losing sleep in our hot & humid homes.
and still we’re forced to pay one of the highest kw rates/hour . Yet another example of Inflated prices coupled with terrible service.
How does a company with no competition, that charges the population what ever it chooses, makes 100% of the money there is possible as a result of having no competition have such crap equipment? There’s no excuse for them not having brand newm functioning equipment since they don’t have to worry about competition.
Is CUC still going to put their rates up during these warmer times, like it usually does, despite these blackouts? We know we still won’t see any decrease our monthly bills as a result.
I knew this company was full of it the day I saw the less injured victim of the generator explosion at CUC offices scratching his head over HIS bill in the line in front of me.
Just another greedy, full of crap company.
You are wrong on a number of counts:
1. CUC cannot charge its customers whatever it chooses. Rates are determined according to a rate cap mechanism.
2. CUC does not make 100% of the "the money there is possible" since its returns are limited by the rate cap mechanism.
3. Brand new functioning equipment. Did you not hear about the explosion earlier this year with respect to one of its generators. Accidents happen.
4. All other things being equal, if there is a power cut, you consume less electricity and have lower power bills.
5. Whether there is an increase in rates on 1 June will depend entirely on any increase in CPI together with CUC’s rate of return. There is no decision for CUC to make as to whether it will increase rates.
What you and most other posters miss on this issue is that competition between T&D providers would not result in lower electricity bills. Instead, you would have half as many people paying for the same infrastructure which basic math dictates will lead to higher bills. It is a natural monopoly which is controlled by regulation.
If these are “scheduled” black outs, would CUC not be able to advise of timeframes so that we don’t get stuck with food in the oven? This weekend we had two power cuts each one at mealtimes! If we knew in advance, we could work around the cuts and it wouldn’t be an issue.
Thanks
great idea – tell the robbers exactly what area will be without power
While you guys are cutting capacity, can you consider cutting rates too?!