AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Belize Life Living in Belize No Mexican power for 4 months

How will all the people wanting green golf carts recharge their batteries??

Now and then

laurie, i think amanda meant can't see them anymore in town because of light pollution. you had less of that on island ferry cuz you were on the sea, same if one is way north or way south of town.

that's a great attitude to take, amanda & tim... hope the news doesn't adversely affect too many.

One more nail in the coffin of the already struggling shop keeper. The brown outs and frequent outages cause tons of problems with all types of electric appliances, particularly commercial fridges and freezers. The time and expense between losing a compressor and finding a new one and having it installed on the island is unreal. Hard to maintain any perishable inventory with the potential of these types of problems. Unfortunately back up generators are expensive to run and the time between power off and generator on is deadly to most electronics. Hopefully the powers that be will come up with some sort of interim fix.

Man my upcoming visit could be just like the ole days over on CC, I remember the first time I came down and they threw the switch on the big generators on the back of the island at like 10:00 or so in the evening. For about three minutes as the fans began to slow down and stop spinning it was absolute serenity, until the bar cranked up the gas generator next door to keep going......

I have been hooked ever since......

CFE UNABLE TO PROVIDE BEL WITH FIRM ENERGY

April 30, 2009


Belize Electricity Limited says it is working to secure sufficient energy supply to meet the country's peak demand of over 74 megawatts after the company received a notice from Comision Federal de Electricidad of Mexico that it will not be able to supply BEL with firm energy for the next four months beginning May 8. BEL says during the dry season it purchases as much as 43 megawatts of firm capacity from CFE. BEL says in its notice CFE explained that damage to major generating equipment in central Campeche following the total system outage yesterday has severely limited its capacity to provide firm energy to the Yucatan Peninsula which has forced that company to suspend the firm energy supplied to BEL. This damage was responsible for a national power outage in Belize. BEL says it currently sources power from hydroelectricity, the West Lake Generating facility, diesel generating plants in Belmopan and Caye Caulker and from mobile units. BEL goes on to say that since hydroelectyric production is less than it is in the rainy season, BEL will continue to use local generation sources efficiently to minimize possible power outages. BEL ends its release by encouraging customers to continue practicing energy conservation.

This indicates a cessation of Mexican grid power on May 8 rather than today.

One definition of firm energy: >>Firm energy refers to the actual energy guaranteed to be available. Nonfirm energy refers to all available energy above and beyond firm energy. Firm energy is often available at substantial discounts over nonfirm energy sold on the spot market. Energy producers such as hydroelectric plants and wind farms may may have nonfirm energy available due to unexpected weather or seasonal conditions.<<

It's still unclear to me whether CFE is saying that they WILL definitely, absolutely cease providing all power to Belize on May 8 or whether it is saying they MAY cease providing it.

Doesn't BEL have a contract with CFE that provides penalties if CFE doesn't deliver under its contract?

--Lan Sluder

One of the reasons we feel so comfortable in the area we chose to live in is because Banana Beach, with its gigantic generator, is so close. After the hurricanes two years ago, with the power outages, it was wonderful to be able to get hot coffee, breakfast and internet access the following morning at Banana Beach. Whenever we have power outages now, we just go outside, enjoy the breeze and wait to hear the Banana Beach generator switch off, which always lets us know when the power has come back on. If you don't have your own generator, or you don't want to run it unless absolutely necessary, it is wonderful to live near a resort with these facilities.

Sounds like it was a magical night. From my house there is a lot of light interference which means I can't see ALL of the stars, but I do see plenty to keep me happy.

But when you out in a boat the stars are AMAZING. I don't go out in boats an night very often.

sj, i knew what she meant, just reminded me of that one night, how absolutely gorgeous it was. Never seen anything like it before.