The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Opposition yesterday demanded full disclosure from the Government, after Prime Minister Christie confirmed the existence of a secret bidding process to improve Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) electricity supply.

K P Turnquest, the FNM’s deputy leader, told Tribune Business that the Government’s quiet solicitation of bids did not pass ‘the smell test, given its secretive, last-minute nature so close to a general election.

Calling on the Government to publicly disclose the identities of the bidders and details of their respective offers, Mr Turnquest expressed fears that the Christie administration was trying to strike “another Bluewater” type deal.

That refers to the 2002-2007 Christie administration’s efforts to finalise the sale of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) to Bluewater Communications Holdings in the final days before the 2007 general election.

Mr Turnquest said the new energy bid process appeared eerily similar to the Bluewater situation, after Mr Christie was forced by Tribune Business’s exclusive revelations to confirm the Government has been seeking proposals to enhance BPL’s generation capacity.

A carefully-worded two paragraph statement, attributed to the Prime Minister and released by Bahamas Information Services (BIS), suggested the process had reached the stage of negotiations with preferred bidders.

Mr Christie was quoted as saying: “The Government has been giving consideration to the short and long-term electricity demands throughout the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, with a view to improving both efficiency in the supply of electricity and lowering the cost of electricity to the public.

“In that regard, a committee comprised of members from both the public and private sectors has carried out a meticulous review of various proposals received by the Government and has made its recommendations.

“Discussions with preferred proponents and relevant stakeholders are ongoing. This matter is of great economic importance and benefit to the public, and my Government expects to complete consideration of this matter as soon as possible.”

No details were provided in the Prime Minister’s statement, but the latter phrase that “my Government expects to complete consideration of this matter as soon as possible” is especially interesting, not least because the current administration may be enjoying its last 48 hours in office depending on the general election’s outcome.

This, in turn, will likely fuel suspicions among some that the Christie administration intends to sign-off on a deal before tomorrow’s general election, as it sought to do with BTC and Bluewater in 2007.

Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business he and the FNM were “very concerned” that the Government may sign a last-minute deal that binds the hands of a new administration.

He added that the FNM, as already reported by Tribune Business, understood the Government’s preferred bidder was New Fortress Energy, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplier with assets and interests in both Florida and Jamaica.

“There’s something not clean in the smell here,” Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business. “BPL doesn’t know about this until late, and nobody else seemed to know it was in the works.

“It’s a last-minute deal that raises all kinds of suspicions as to the motive, who’s behind it and who’s going to benefit from it. These guys are incredible; this is just over the top.”

Tribune Business revealed on Monday that several energy industry groups had been invited to participate in “a very weird Request for Proposal (RFP)” initiated by the Christie administration.

This newspaper was told that the process, run directly out of Prime Minister Perry Christie’s office, set different terms and bid criteria for the various energy groups, with timelines similar to the tight deadlines involved in the New Providence landfill tender.

The process was initiated without the knowledge or involvement of BPL or its management company, PowerSecure, while the ‘free electricity’ pledge in the PLP’s election manifesto was an idea that originated directly with Fortress.

None of this was refuted by Mr Christie’s statement yesterday, which did not identify the energy reform committee’s members or the “stakeholders” the Government is now talking to.

“This cannot be good for the Bahamian people, and is certainly not in the interests of transparency,” Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business. “It lacks the transparency and integrity of process that the Bahamian people ought to be entitled to.

“We call on the Government to submit to the Bahamian people the names of all those invited to propose for this power generation contract; how many submitted bids; what those bids look like in comparison to those who did not make it; and who the preferred bidders and winners are.”

Emphasising that any agreement had to be “in the Bahamian people’s best interests”, Mr Turnquest slammed the “incredible hypocrisy” of the Christie administration.

He argued that having criticised the former Ingraham administration for signing last-minute contracts prior to the 2012 general election, it was now doing exactly the same thing it had complained about.

Any energy sector agreement would likely involve the winning bidder taking over management of BPL’s existing generation assets, before procuring and installing - at its own expense - new, more efficient generation units.

Ultimately, they would likely be required to plan, finance and construct a new power plant for New Providence, which would supply energy to BPL via a 20 of 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA). Once this term expires, the plant would likely be handed over to BPL.

Mr Turnquest asked whether BPL’s Board had met on Sunday to sign-off on an agreement with Fortress, and expressed particular concern that such an agreement had to be got right.

This, he explained, was because the winning bidder would be given a long-term, exclusive contract to be BPL’s main energy supplier, giving it almost monopoly status notwithstanding moves towards renewable energy.

“We need to see the terms of the deal,” Mr Turnquest said, “the rates they’re talking about. If this is an exclusive deal, these guys will effectively benefit from a monopoly where they will set the rates.”

Tribune Business reported on Monday that the Government’s latest energy sector moves could be linked to the commitments it has made in the Baha Mar Heads of Agreement, together with the difficulties it has encountered in refinancing BPL’s $650 million legacy liabilities via a rate reduction bond (RRB).