NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Works Minister Alfred Sears yesterday admitted that he had received details of Bahamas Power and Light’s (BPL) fuel hedge program back in October 2021, noting however that Financial Secretary Simon Wilson had rejected the company’s request to execute the hedge trades.
The hedge trades were intended to secure BPL extra fuel volumes below market prices, as global oil prices were beginning to rise.
Opposition leader Michael Pintard has repeatedly blamed the Davis administration for rejecting the proposals which he said could have saved the Bahamian people some $100 million. Pintard has called on Sears to resign for misleading Parliament after he spent weeks denying that he ever saw the recommendations for the fuel purchases.
At a press conference yesterday, Sears said: “We were debating at that time the Value Added Tax Bill and the leader of the Opposition made a statement. I did not recall having received the email and stated that. I wrote BPL and also wrote the Permanent Secretary and asked could you refresh me did I receive it?
“I didn’t get a confirmation. Several weeks I was in New York, I took a day and I brought my old iPad and I went back personally and did a search. I found that I did receive it, I think it was October 9, an email with the attachments.”
Sears said: It would have been sent on to the Financial Secretary which is normal because they are the technical review in terms of financial clearance because it was really to access a loan which is managed by the Mistry of Finance. The Financial Secretary responded stating that he didn’t support it and I passed that on to BPL and BPL tried as best they could to persuade him. When I found that email trail the first opportunity I got was when I was in Parliament and this was during the debate of the Mental Health Act.”
Sears added: “The leader of the Opposition made the allegation again. I could not sit there knowing that the first representation I had made was not correct and as it my duty I got up and stated on the record for the House of Assembly that I had done a search of my email and had found an email of October 9 2021 and the response of the Financial Secretary. I stated it on the record because it was incumbent upon me to correct the previous statement I had made.”
Eyewitness News understands that one of the reasons finance officials did not proceed with the hedge was because the cost was around $40 million.
Finance officials were also of the view that executing the hedge was not the best use of those funds which they believed should instead be invested back in BPL and lower the cost of generation. Further, finance officials were of the view the average consumer would not be the primary beneficiary of the cost savings the hedge was intended to provide.
During the press conference, BPL’s chief executive Shevonn Cambridge noted that the company is undertaking a number of initiatives to improve its efficiencies and reduce the cost of electricity to consume.
Cambridge pointed to a number of micro-grid projects underway in addition to a massive stretch lighting replacement project in new Providence which will see some 30,000 street light’s replaced with LED lights, reducing energy consumption by 20-30 percent. He also noted that the proposed 60 MW power plant set to be constructed in New Providence will reduce the company’s yearly fuel bill by some $25-$30 million.
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