November 4, 2014

Dear Sir,

It seems I’m still following events on the Island and even received a few phone calls from fellow Bermudians concerning the power (or lack of) situation down there after the recent hurricanes.

I understand Belco has come out with a release stating it would cost in the area of $350 million to get Bermuda’s power lines underground. This, of course, was to be expected. It’s not too difficult to imagine the effect suggesting such a figure would have on many of Belco’s shareholders — Oh Boy! I can hear the screaming way up here in Sweden. “Do not mess with our quarterly dividends!”

If one lays that somewhat astounding figure on top of the $2.2 billion national debt I read about not so long ago in your newspaper, one can even imagine quite a bit of tearing at the hair and gnashing of teeth.

Speaking of the latter, the teeth bit, I recall when I read about this mind-boggling national debt that I had an image in my mind of Sir John (Swan) standing there on his deck overlooking the South Shore. His hands are gripping the rail tightly, his head is bowed and he seems to be gnashing his teeth while quietly (Sir John does not lose his cool) asking himself, over and over again: “Does it get any crazier than this?”

Imagine (or don’t even go there) servicing a debt of $2.2 billion with a population of around 60,000. Interest on that would be, hmmm, let’s see? Easy to see Sir John up there on his deck now, ain’t it?

In any case, to get back to these pesky power lines. I was certainly not suggesting in my recent comments that Belco rush out there and embark on some mad scheme in an attempt at getting the lines underground — like before the next big blow. That would, of course, be ludicrous.

What I was suggesting was that maybe, just maybe, the next time Belco gets wind of the fact one of the trenching outfits is planning to dig up Bermuda’s roads again to lay whatever, they might have a beer or two with these guys and discuss the possibility of getting their power lines in the same hole — so to speak.

Albeit, those lines would have to be in some sort or protective shielding against water, rust and the like. And they might have to consider getting those lovely round transformer things down off the poles at the same time, since they do seem to fly about the place when it gets up to around 140 miles per hour. I’m not being flippant here by the way, those things are dangerous.

My older brother Leonard was a lineman for Belco. He would often drop by my place if he was in the area in his green Belco truck, and he and I and his co-worker would shoot the breeze over a cup of coffee. He did a very dangerous job and I understand he was very good at it. On a few occasions I seem to recall mentioning the idea of putting lines underground. I did this very shyly, partly because Leonard was a whole lot bigger than me in those days and I didn’t want to annoy him by implying we might make his job redundant. Also, I knew he owned a whole lot of shares with you-know-who.

It is a fact that even today, Belco seems to have a whole fleet of those green trucks and a mini army of guys that are out there maintaining the grid. And good on ‘em, I say. So my suggestion of putting the stuff underground might impact employment, put them out of work, brown off the BIU and so on. So on an island where jobs are getting a bit thin on the ground, it’s understood I might be ruffling a few feathers. I did get some feedback about putting guys out of work, but think about it for a minute. If the cables are all underground the maintenance is logically reduced — but not non-existent. You would still need people to maintain, albeit a more efficient and less vulnerable, in terms of hurricanes, power grid.

In any case, I still feel my suggestion of collaboration between the one and only power company on the Island and the trenching guys could only be a plus in the overall scheme of things. Who knows, they might even consider sharing costs.

So no, this is something which could be approached on an as-and-when basis. The cost to the customer could hopefully be held down (Oh Boy! I do remember paying my electricity bills when we lived on the Island) and we could finally get those unsightly poles out of sight. Unfortunately, the good old taxpaying public does have to pick up the tab for resurfacing the road. They’d have to do that no matter what.

Here’s another little thought before I close. Ever wonder if Watlington Water or CableVision chip in on the cost of resurfacing? Just a thought.

JACK GAUNTLETT

Sweden