BEC transition deal signed

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

THE government yesterday signed a transition services agreement with American company PowerSecure for management of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation.

Deputy Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, with several PowerSecure officials, yesterday signed off on what the minister of works said was “another important step forward towards reducing the cost of electricity and increasing the reliability of power in the Bahamas.”

Mr Davis said he now expects that the cost of electricity for consumers will eventually drop from 40 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) to 30 cents per kWh. However, he said that depends on the results of the “due diligence” investigations being conducted by PowerSecure officials.

Nonetheless, Mr Davis said PowerSecure will now finalise its business plan over the next 60 days, which will “provide specific recommendations” on how PowerSecure “plans to manage the new BEC for the next five years.”

Mr Davis said a management contract would be signed with PowerSecure as soon as the business plan would have been “signed, accepted, and adopted by the Cabinet of the Bahamas.”

According to Mr Davis, the agreement is valued at about $900,000.

“The government has charged PowerSecure with developing a plan that will create efficiencies which will allow for significant reductions in the cost of energy, increased energy security and reliability, environmental responsibility and increased competitiveness as a country,” Mr Davis added. “Since the appointment of PowerSecure as the preferred bidder was announced in April, both PowerSecure and the government have made substantial progress in several key areas to lay the foundation for success. Specifically, the PowerSecure team has been on the ground in Nassau and across the Family Islands engaged with BEC management in extensive due diligence to gather key data that will inform their business plan.”

He added: “We believe that the new course on energy that has been charted by this government, and the new BEC, under management direction and supervision from PowerSecure, will significantly improve the residential and commercial customer service experience and set a new standard for excellence in the region.”

Ronnie Brannen, PowerSecure chief revenue officer, said while the company is unable to presently state what plans it has to provide a reliable service and subsequently reduce electricity costs, the company is actively engaged in “understanding the causes of (disruption in services) and how to prevent them.”

“We want to really make the right decision for the future of the Bahamas,” he said. “Not a short-term decision but the right decision. So the goal is to improve reliability as quickly as possible, and make short and long-term decisions based on the generation mix that will reduce your cost substantially.”

In May, the government announced it had selected PowerSecure International as the new management company for BEC, giving it a five-year contract to oversee generation and transmission/distribution.

The process is expected to lower electricity costs, increase energy security and reliability, and increase competitiveness as a country.

PowerSecure specialises in utility scale solar power through its subsidiary PowerSecure Solar and has provided both solar and storm hardening services to multiple utility customers.

Mr Davis has previously said that the company has the ability to manage the building of new, major generation in New Providence and can procure and/or manage the building of renewable energy projects in the country.

Comments

sheeprunner12 says...

This is another Brave "Bluewater" deal ................ this company cannot save BEC without a new power plant and getting rid of all of those lazy greedy workers and rehiring a new non-unionized staff ............... just let Bahamians have access to RE technology duty free and get rid of BEC as it exists today

Posted 23 July 2015, 1:37 p.m. Suggest removal

afficianado says...

Brave is an ignoramus. The decrease in the rate per kilowatt-hr will be constituted by maintenance of the transmission and distribution, which BEC failed miserably at. If generation equipment was monitored and the "smart" engineers at BEC routinely calculated the power output from the generation i.e. power in equals power out then power losses could be determined and they could have easily predicted that most of the electricity revenue lost was due to stealing of electricity. How can a Utility not even have the mental know how of analyzing its own grid and trans/distribution system?

We have no true electrical engineers at BEC just glorified technicians.

Posted 23 July 2015, 2:24 p.m. Suggest removal

GrassRoot says...

hey yes, of course and tell Ms Allyson Mayonnaise to book to crook that took the bribe.

Posted 23 July 2015, 5:54 p.m. Suggest removal

GrassRoot says...

In his old days the DPM wants to convert from being a lawyer to become a business man and entrepreneur (in my terminology a business man does more than just holding the bag to receive donations).

Ok. 1x1 for an entrepreneur in spe. Here is how it works in the real world: you set up a BUSINESS PLAN first, cuz WITHOUT a BUSINESS PLAN you don't have a business and you cant get an INVESTOR. A BUSINESS PLAN describes the BUSINESS and shows if the writer of the BUSINESS PLAN knows his shit or is simply another magician landed on our shores.

IF the AGREEMENT IS VALUED AT BSD 900,000, did the DPM ask for PowerSecure to pay the BSD900,000. If not, why not? Maybe the agreement is worth BSD 900,000,000 cuz if PowerSecure does not even know NOW, whether the selling price per kWh is 32, or 16, or 27, or 23, how can they even make a bid? (the winning a bid part in the Bahamas is easy and has a BSD value attached to it too).

Good luck and good night. DPM aint be winning the Nobelprice for this stunt.

Posted 23 July 2015, 5:49 p.m. Suggest removal

Sickened says...

I think you got this mixed up, or maybe I did, but I'm pretty sure that we, the people, will be paying Power Secure $900,000 to come and take a look at BEC and tell us what they think and if they want to manage it and how much they will charge us to manage it.

This is only the beginning. The million dollar kick-backs will be starting soon I'm sure.

Posted 24 July 2015, 9:07 a.m. Suggest removal

realfreethinker says...

That is correct. But the problems in BEC ,barring a new plant and transmission lines ,will take a lot more than 5 yrs to correct. This whole process makes absolutely no sense. All I see i power source sees an opportunity to make some easy money from a bunch of idiots who don't know their ass from their elbow.

Posted 24 July 2015, 1:12 p.m. Suggest removal

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