By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net 

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis confirmed that Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) could be divided into three separate entities as the government aims to improve power efficiency and reduce BPL’s outstanding debts.

He spoke after his administration tabled a new Electricity Bill and a Natural Gas Bill in the House of Assembly on Wednesday, two pieces of legislation Mr Davis said would “accommodate and give the government flexibility what we think is right for the Bahamian people.”

“It is designed to bring efficiencies that we could afford to bring to the country at this time,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an event yesterday.

The new Electricity Bill, which seeks to repeal and replace the existing Electricity Act 2015, aims “to modernise and consolidate the law” for electricity supply through several avenues, including giving the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) the power to “regulate all aspects of renewable energy”.

However, its new provisions go deeper by facilitating the potential break-up of BPL into separate generation, transmission and distribution and creating a foundation for private-public partnerships (PPPs).

Pike Electric Company, a company based in the United States, has previously expressed interest in a transmission and distribution contract.

Yesterday, Mr Davis said discussions with “strategic partners” concerning the future of BPL are still ongoing.

Under the proposed bill, BPL and other electricity providers can charge different tariffs and prices to different groups of customers for a “transition period” of three years without approval from URCA. They must use that time to prepare a “comprehensive review” of their prices.

URCA’s corporate and consumer relations manager, Juan McCartney, said yesterday that the regulator would comply with whatever the law says.

“The Electricity Bill tasks URCA with carrying out the National Energy Policy objectives set by the government,” he said. “One of those policies in the bill tabled is to allow public electricity suppliers, of which BPL is one, and authorised public electricity suppliers to set their own tariffs for three years.

“The bill states URCA will adopt those tariffs while those entities prepare a tariff plan to submit for URCA’s approval before the end of that three-year period.

“As far as the expanded regulatory remit for URCA outlined in the Electricity Bill and Natural Gas bill, URCA is fully prepared to do the work necessary to effectively regulate the energy.”

Concrete information about the Davis administration’s plans for BPL is still unclear, though officials have said the utility company will not be privatised.