NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) said it was “not persuaded” that its proposed reporting obligations for public electricity supplier licensees, like Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) are as “onerous” as the utility has asserted.
BPL was the lone respondent to its consultation on its “Public Electricity Supply Licensees Reporting Obligations Procedures and Guidelines” document which calls for reporting on operational performance.
URCA noted that the company “views the requirements of URCA’s proposed reporting obligations outlined in the consultation document as onerous and posited that it will likely require BPL to employ additional human and other resources to ensure timely compliance”.
BPL had also contended that some of the information required by URCA is not pertinent to The Bahamas at this time given the environment in which BPL actually operates.
“BPL is of the view that many of the requirements proposed by URCA do not factor in the external oversight and control applicable to BPL, given that BPL is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation which in turn is wholly-owned by the Government of The Bahamas,” it continued.
“Notwithstanding the foregoing, BPL has posited its reaffirmation that much of the data required in the proposed reporting obligations contained in the consultation document can be provided by BPL.”
The regulator noted however that it is “not persuaded by BPL’s general comments that the requirements of URCA’s proposed reporting obligations are onerous, neither does URCA is persuaded that these requirements will be the reasons for BPL to employ additional human and other resources”.
The regulator said it anticipates that it will have ongoing engagement with specified licensees on the established key performance indicators (KPIs) and baseline indicators, and their related obligations while the reporting requirements are finally implemented.
From a regulatory standpoint, URCA said its goal is to incentivize each licensee to improve its performance relative to operational efficiency, dynamic efficiency, consumption efficiency and other policy objectives.
BPL had also argued that the company was being unduly tasked with providing calculated data using URCA’s template which, if not changed as it suggested, would require them to effectively create a new report using its current resources.
The company said this process would require additional data collection systems, and add at additional costs as it would be required in a number of Family Islands where personnel are not present to provide the information required by URCA.
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