NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) could become profitable if it is managed like a company without Cabinet interference, according to a former executive of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation.
Debbie Deal, a Bahamian Contractors Association Trustee and former head of the BCCEC’s energy and environment division, told Eyewitness News: “I’m kind of confused about the BPL developments. I’m not sure where it’s going. The unions are under the belief that the government is privatizing the company, and the Prime Minister has said that isn’t true. I understood it when they said transmission, distribution, and energy generation; that what they were doing is putting out a PPP to have a company redo the transmission, distribution, and run the system. That’s what I understood, but no one else seems to know what the PM is doing. To me, that makes the most sense. To find someone else to not only run the transmission, distribution, and energy generation that is there but is archaic.”
Deal added: “If BPL was run like a company, it would make money. Because it’s not, and the Cabinet controls it and makes decisions as to what they will and won’t do, it won’t happen. If we take Cabinet out of the situation, you would have to pay your bills. To me, there is a lot of haze that’s going on and there needs to be more specifics.
Bahamas Electrical Workers Union (BEWU) president Kyle Wilson said employees at Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) are against the impending public-private partnership (PPP) agreements for the utility company. It is understood that in the next three months, BPL will sign two PPP agreements, one for power generation and the other for transmission and distribution with the company. The government has not revealed the details of the deal to the employees or the general public, although the Prime Minister has stated that BPL is not being privatized and insisted that the government is bringing in “strategic partners” to generate the funds necessary to “fix” BPL.
It is understood that the power generation will be contracted to a leading local petroleum product supplier, while the transmission and distribution will be contracted to Pike Corporation, whose chairman, Eric Pike, has an equity stake in Sir Franklyn Wilson’s Jack Bay development in Eleuthera. Sir Franklyn, Chairman of FOCOL has stated that rumors his company, or some new subsidiary of his consortium of companies, is set to take over assets of Bahamas Power and Light (BPL), are categorically untrue. “
Tim Ingraham, the BCCEC chairman commenting on reports regarding BPL’s future told Eyewitness News: “The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation has noted the press reports regarding the proposed adjustment in the operation of BPL. The BCCEC and its members have long advocated for changes at BPL for the benefit of consumers. We trust that the current negotiations at BPL will result in more stable, clean, and cost-effective energy for businesses and the country at large. He added, “We will continue to monitor this situation as it develops. In our most recent conversations with BPL’s management, they assured us that they are actively exploring strategies to improve service to their consumers.”
