By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Activists have accused Grand Bahama Power Company of employing “strong arm tactics” to force customers to settle the “fake energy savings devices” controversy on its terms.

Pastor Eddie Victor, head of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens (CCC), told Tribune Business that the utility’s threat to report businesses and residences where these devices are installed to the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) unless they agreed a “satisfactory” payment plan amounted to “corporate bullying”.

A long-time GB Power critic, Pastor Victor questioned why the energy provider was threatening “to drag people to the police and get them arrested” when it had already acknowledged that they were “victims of a fraud” perpetrated by those who had sold and installed such devices.

He revealed that the Coalition, together with principals from Sav Mor drugs and other businesses whose electricity was disconnected by GB Power upon discovering the presence of such devices, will meet with the utility’s regulator today to “push for a protocol” on how such situations will be dealt with in the future.

The group wants the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) to establish procedures that will avoid customers being disconnected from electricity supply for an indefinite period of time - especially in the absence of a set mechanism for how the matter can be redressed and power restored.

GB Power, in a statement last Thursday, set out a three-step “remediation” plan for addressing the “fake energy devices” controversy that has created havoc in Freeport and Grand Bahama because of how widely they are being used.

It called on all customers to “urgently” report the presence of the “fake” boxes and associated equipment to it, so that GB Power personnel can inspect it and “address any immediate safety risks” - a process that could result in short-term power outages.

“GB Power will make reasonable arrangements for customers to pay for the electricity which has been used but not metered and billed,” the utility’s statement said. “Where GB Power and the customer reach a satisfactory resolution, no complaint will be made to law enforcement.”

Therein lies the consequences for those that do not comply with the energy monopoly and settle on its terms, and Pastor Victor told Tribune Business: “I don’t feel the Power Company should be bullying or threatening anyone. They’ve already done things they shouldn’t have done.

“That [statement] is bullying. You’re saying to them that unless you come to a satisfactory resolution they’re going to report you to the police. That is a strong arm tactic, corporate strong arming. This is not a criminal matter; it is a matter that is civil in its nature. Why are you going to drag people to the police to get them arrested?”

Such a fate has already befallen members of the Cooper family, owners of Freeport’s Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Pollo Tropical and Burger King franchises, together with Ronald Sweeting, Sav Mor’s principal. All have been released without charge, after it was seemingly established that they were unwitting victims of allegedly unscrupulous installers.

Tribune Business sources, though, confirmed that the power supply to Sav Mor, Freeport’s largest supplier of pharmaceutical drugs, was still switched off as of Sunday - having been disconnected more than a week earlier. This newspaper understands that the company was negotiating a settlement with GB Power for the electricity consumed but never paid for to ensure it was reconnected.

Pastor Victor, though, questioned why GB Power had been so willing to prosecute over the “fake energy saving devices” when it did not employ the same practices in relation to persons who illegally “hooked up” to its power grid - another form of electricity theft.

The culprits, the Coalition head argued, were frequently required to pay a fine plus deposit to be connected legally, rather than reported to the police. “When we meet with the Port Authority on Tuesday our main objective is to petition the regulator to establish a protocol the Power Company must follow when it comes to a situation like this,” he told Tribune Business.

“None of this is taking them to law enforcement like they did with the Coopers and Ronald Sweeting. He’s going to be part of the meeting. Those customers affected will have the opportunity to share with the regulator their experiences.

“The behaviour of the Power Company is very insensitive to the customers, businesses and residences. The Power Company used law enforcement to detain and arrest outstanding Bahamian citizens when they should have called them in and had a meeting,” Pastor Victor continued.

“All of the stuff they’re doing now they should have done at the beginning. They should have said: ‘We have a problem, anomaly with or system. This is what is showing on our report and we need to figure out what’s going on’.

“The Coalition will be petitioning and pushing for a protocol on how such matters will be dealt with in the future. This situation has brought to a head the fact there must be an independent regulator.”

Striking a conspiratorial tone, Pastor Victor questioned whether GB Power’s high-profile strategy of disconnecting prominent businesses and filing police complaints against their owners was designed to “intimidate” companies and residents from seeking to conserve and/or save energy through legal means.

He also expressed disquiet that the findings and conclusions revealed to-date had only come from GB Power’s own investigations, and called on those affected to have “independent assessments” performed to “confirm” the utility’s findings.

GB Power, though, will likely argue that the disconnections were necessary to preserve the integrity of its system - and viability of its operating and financial model - given the initial uncertainty over what it was facing and the fact the businesses involved were heavy energy users costing it millions of dollars.

Tribune Business understands that its main concern now is to address any safety concerns stemming from the installation of these devices, and ensure either its personnel or qualified electricians remove them rather than business and homeowners.

As Tribune Business previously revealed, and was subsequently confirmed by GB Power, many installers of these “energy saving devices” exploited the desperation of numerous businesses and households to reduce electricity bills that had become equivalent to a second mortgage, eliminating corporate profits and shrinking household disposable income.

While sold as “magical boxes”, they were nothing of the sort - as confirmed by GB Power, which said many were “fake” and did nothing for energy saving and/or conservation. In order to produce the promised savings, the Freeport-based utility provider said the installations it uncovered had resorted to either bypassing or tampering with electricity meters to under-record actual consumption.

Such actions are illegal, with GB Power arguing that customers who had fallen for such deception were “victims of a fraud” that delivered no actual energy savings. The utility, which is 100 percent owned by Canadian-based Emera, added that it, too, was a victim because not all customer energy consumption was being recorded - resulting in underbillings and financial losses.

Tribune Business sources revealed that the settlement GB Power was seeking with Sav Mor was “not that terrific but still high”, and described the situation as “a real mess” given how widely these devices had been installed across Freeport and Grand Bahama.

“It became evident that these people were duped as well as the Power Company,” one source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. “These devices were rife in Freeport. They were everywhere. I think it’s quite widespread. They’ve [GB Power] lost a lot of income. These installers made a business out of it. They’ve left a very big mess in this town. It’s a crisis.”

The source said they, too, had been offered one of these devices but turned it down. “It was too good to be true,” they explained. “I figured something was smelling in Denmark. It didn’t feel right. There are legitimate devices that can reduce your power but not by as much as they were claiming, 40-60 percent. To my mind it was suspect, but they were slick about it.”

The source added that Grand Bahama’s high electricity rates had “opened the door” to the problem, creating the motivation for businesses and homeowners to seek “magical” solutions.

Tribune Business sources, though, have questioned how the situation was allowed to persist for so long when GB Power’s computerised systems are able to track billing and energy consumption histories and spot any sudden drop in usage below the norm.

This newspaper understands the situation was caught by personnel from Tampa Electric, an affiliate of GB Power’s 100 percent owner, Emera, when they were brought in to conduct meter audits as part of a plan to change out customers’ existing meters.