By Neil Hartnell

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A public advocacy group is targeting 1,000 letters of support as it intensifies its campaign to end Grand Bahama Power Company’s (GBPC) long-standing energy monopoly.

Pastor Eddie Victor, president of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens (CCC), told Tribune Business that besides raising “public pressure” on the Government it also plans to “really push” for the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) to take over energy sector supervision in Grand Bahama’s East and West End.

He accused GB Power of exploiting the Hawksbill Creek Agreement “at the expense of the Bahamian people” to escape the national regulator’s reach through its near two-and-a-half year old legal action challenging URCA’s authority to regulate it. 

The utility’s Supreme Court move is founded on the notion that it is regulated under Freeport’s founding treaty, not the Electricity Act 2015, but Pastor Victor said it had left the case “just sitting in the courts” with no attempt being made to move it forward.

It is unclear whether the Hawksbill Creek Agreement can be used to protect GB Power’s West and East End operations from URCA oversight given that these lie outside the Port area - a potential “weak point” that Pastor Victor and the Coalition’s letters are seeking to exploit.

Although billed as demanding a reduction in electricity costs, the letters - 301 of which were delivered on Friday to Pakeisha Parker-Edgecombe and K P Turnquest, deputy prime minister, in their roles as MPs for West and East End respectively - are really seeking an end to GB Power’s energy monopoly as the means to achieve it.

The Coalition is thus raising the stakes with the Government yet to decide whether to renew GB Power’s east and west Grand Bahama energy supply deals after both 25-year agreements expired in summer 2018.

Those signing the letters are putting their names to statements urging the Government not to renew either deal with GB Power, with power generation in both locations provided by a new entity that is majority Bahamian-owned. Signatories are also agreeing that URCA should regulate the energy sector in East and West End.

Pastor Victor and the Coalition have already been extremely vocal in their support for the $30m proposal by Northern Bahamas Utilities (NBU), a wholly Bahamian-owned group, to take over power supply in both areas through the operation of two utility-scale solar plants billed as able to reduce electricity costs by up to 40 percent.

The letter-writing effort is an extension of this backing, with Pastor Victor warning that the Coalition may have to extend its campaign to also target the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) in its role as GB Power’s regulator   

“It is to put public pressure on the Government to yield to the needs and desires of the people,” Pastor Victor told Tribune Business. “We believe the message needs to get very clear to MPs for those areas that people want change in the energy sector. The people want a lower cost of electricity.

“What we’ve found out in all the Town Meetings is that everyone wants a solution to bring down the cost of power quickly. A lot of people, myself included, are tried of talking. We need to bring it down. Everybody’s been hit very deeply in terms of costs. A solution needs to happen.”

Pastor Victor said persons signing the Coalition’s letter were being asked to provide their names and contact details so their MPs, and the Government, would be able to verify that their backing for change is genuine.

“Over the holidays we will be waiting for more letters to come in, and in January we will deliver them,” he added. “I believe we will be able to get another 400-500 letters. We’re at 301, and believe we have a lot more letters to come in between East End and West End. We’d love to get 1,000 letters because that’s a significant amount.”

Detailing a strategy beyond letters and Town Hall meetings, Pastor Victor added: “One of the things we’re definitely going to look at is URCA’s responsibility to regulate east and west Grand Bahama.

“We’re going to push for that. The Government refuses to regulate in Freeport because of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement. The law of the land says URCA should regulate in east and west Grand Bahama, and we’ll definitely be looking into that to see how we can bring that about.

“That’s probably going to be one of the next steps after the Town Meetings. We’re really going to push that: URCA regulation. I think it’s worth us doing that.”

Turning to GB Power’s legal bid to block regulation by URCA, Pastor Victor told Tribune Business: “The company is using the Hawksbill Creek Agreement at the expense of the Bahamian people.

“You’re using the Hawksbill Creek Agreement to avoid being regulated by the Government-appointed agency, while enjoying its bonded privileges. Any regulator is supposed to regulate on behalf of the customer and the Port Authority is not doing that. They’re, in my opinion, acting as agents of the Power Company.”

However, the expired East and West End supply agreements contain a potential obstacle for rival electricity suppliers seeking to break-up GB Power’s monopoly as they contain language that could be interpreted as giving GB Power a “right of first refusal” on any renewal.

GB Power, then Freeport Power, agreed to expand beyond the Port area in 1993 to meet the then-Ingraham administration’s desire for the electrification of East and West End. Tribune Business has obtained copies of the two 25-year agreements, one dated June 23, 1993, and the other August 31, 1993, that effectively gave it a 25-year monopoly on Grand Bahama’s energy market.

Using virtually identical terms, the agreements gave GB Power “the sole right” to supply electricity outside the Port area. And it was granted similar tax breaks as those enjoyed within Freeport, including exemptions from Customs duty, Stamp Duty and Business Licence fees, along with the use of so-called ‘bonded’ goods without penalty.

And both agreements give GB Power an option to renew for a further 25 years, “upon the same terms and conditions”, provided it gives notice of its intention to do so some 60 days before the existing deals expire.

Kwasi Thompson, minister of state for Grand Bahama, declined to comment on the Government’s plans for East and West End’s energy supply as he was out of the country yesterday. Pastor Victor, though, said Northern Bahamas Utilities and its principals had heard nothing further since being invited earlier this year to present their proposal to the Bahamas Investment Authority (BIA).

With the Government’s intentions unclear, Pastor Victor warned it against any failure to support cost-reducing energy reform initiatives that were Bahamian-led.

“If the Government makes a decision it’s not going to support Bahamians in developing the industry, we’d have to look at alternative options,” he told Tribune Business. “How can we bring about the change we need?

“For another agreement to be given to the Power Company means this generation and the next generation will be locked into a situation where they’re at the mercy of GB Power and the Port Authority.

“That means we may have to look at the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, look at what may have to be done by other means, and our campaign may have to include the Port Authority as the Port Authority is responsible for setting the rates on Grand Bahama.”

Reasserting his support for Northern Bahamas Utilities, Pastor Victor said: “The fact is here is a 100 percent Bahamian-owned company that has a power generation solution where the profits stay in The Bahamas.

“You’re causing the development of Bahamians to develop the energy sector and have a solution to bring down the cost of power.”