By NEILL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Electricity sector regulators yesterday launched a consultation process to obtain public feedback on the Government’s proposed $200m Grand Bahama Power Company acquisition more than three weeks after it was first notified of the deal.
The Utilities Regulation and Competiton Authority (URCA), in unveiling the consultation process that will close on May 1, 2026, disclosed that Grand Bahama Energy Company, the fully-owned government special purpose vehicle (SPV) that has been formed to acquire 100 percent of GB Power’s energy provider, formally informed it of the deal on March 6, 2026, prior to the Government seeking Parliament’s approval to facilitate the $280m borrowing needed to finance the deal.
The consultation is triggered by the Electricity Act’s section 44, which deals with “changes in control” of public electricity suppliers such as GB Power. URCA is required to determine whether the proposed acquisition by the Government “would have, or is likely to have, the effect of substantially lessening competition in a market in The Bahamas”, and if “the change of control would have an effect, or would be likely to have an effect, contrary to the public interest”.
URCA will now rule on these questions, aided by public opinion, at a time when its authority - and that of the Electricity Act - to regulate GB Power are still being challenged in two separate Supreme Court actions that remain live. GB Power and the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) are arguing that the latter has the authority to regulate electricity, and other utilities in the Port area, by virtue of the powers bestowed by the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, Freeport’s founding treaty.
Their position, though, may have been weakened by the recent GBPA arbitration ruling which found that the Government does have the ability to regulate the energy sector in the Port area by virtue of the Electricity Act. If the Government’s GB Power deal proceeds, it would acquire its 100 percent interest from Emera Utilities Holdings and ICD Utilities, each of which holds a 50 percent stake in the utility.
“Given the essential nature of electricity services and the impact on households, businesses and national development, it is critical that this decision-making process is informed by stakeholder input,” URCA said of the GB Power consultation.
“This consultation is undertaken to ensure transparency, accountability and inclusiveness in evaluating the proposed change in control. The consultation provides an opportunity for electricity consumers, industry participants, public institutions and other interested parties to review the proposed transaction and submit their views.
“The consultation process will support URCA’s decision making as the independent regulator for the electricity sector and will ensure that public interest remains central to any determination regarding the proposed change in control.” The fact URCA was informed of the deal suggests that negotiations are reasonably well advanced despite Emera confirming last month that no final sales agreement has been concluded.
Private sector representatives, including the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce, have questioned how the Government will achieve the promised energy bill savings for residents and businesses while still keeping GB Power commercially viable and not becoming a burden for the Bahamian taxpayer to subsidise. Concerns have been expressed that, under government ownership, GB Power could become a second Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) saddled with debts and inefficiencies.
The Government has yet to disclose its “game plan”, and the commercial and economic rationale, for acquiring GB Power and adding more than a quarter-of-a-billion dollars to The Bahamas’ $12bn-plus national debt other than implying that Grand Bahama businesses and households will see a reduction in energy bills and costs following the acquisition. It has also yet to show how its valuation of GB Power was derived, given that $200m of the $280m has been earmarked for covering purchase costs.
Emera’s financials for the 12 months to year-end 2025 show that GB Power generated a $10m Canadian dollar contribution to the utility giant’s “consolidated adjusted net income” for the period - a figure that was slightly down on the prior year’s $11m. Using the current exchange rate, that $10m Canadian dollars translates into about US $7.3m.
Those profits were generated from $162m Canadian dollars worth of revenue, which represented a 16.5 percent year-over-year increase compared to 2024’s $139m Canadian dollar top-line. The increase is likely due to increased economic activity among GB Power’s 20,000-strong customer base, with Carnival’s $600m Celebration Key destination having opened last July. The exchange rate conversion means GB Power generated $118.26m worth of revenues in US dollars last year.
The value of the Grand Bahama-based electricity provider’s physical assets, namely property, plant and equipment, narrowed slightly last year from $371m Canadian dollars at year-end 2024 to $361m Canadian dollars some 12 months later.
To give an idea of what the Government is potentially acquiring, Emera said: “With $378m US dollars of assets, and approximately 20,000 customers, GB Power owns 98 mega watts (MW) of oil-fired generation, approximately 100 kilometres of transmission facilities and 1,000 kilometres of distribution facilities. GB Power’s approved regulatory return on rate base is 8.52 per cent.”
But a financial observer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they were “shocked and stunned” that the Government was seeking to increase the national debt by almost $300m through pursuing GB Power’s acquisition. Emera, they added, had seemingly not been seeking to sell or exit, which meant it had likely been “squeezed” by the Government into doing so.
The GB Power purchase which, in effect, is a nationalisation of Grand Bahama’s energy supplier, is also the exact opposite direction that the Government has taken in outsourcing Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) New Providence baseload generation and electricity grid to the private sector,
“GB Power should be the least of their worries,” the source said. “It’s a functioning utility. It would be different if it was in trouble or a bad performer, but there’s no urgency other than there’s an election coming up and they want to make a splash. I’m eager to find out what the rationale is going to be. This [Emera’s confirmation the sale has yet to close] makes this $280m exercise more curious because there’s no need to do this right now.
“No one is clamouring for this change. I know quite a few people in Grand Bahama and not one wants the Government to have a greater role. And we haven’t seen the game plan for GB Power. Are we taking on the liabilities? What are we actually purchasing? This has been driven by the Government from day one but there’s no need for the Government to be taking this on.
“You have enough Bahamian capital out there. Let them buy it, let the regulators regulate, otherwise you are setting yourself up for disaster and you will have another BPL and the same problems that BPL has but now in Grand Bahama.”