The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Government was yesterday accused of “stalling for time” over its energy sector reform policies, a former Cabinet Minister arguing it was faced with either privatising the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) or increasing its rates.

Phenton Neymour, the former minister of state for the environment, who had direct responsibility for BEC and the energy industry under the Ingraham administration, told Tribune Business that the Government’s actions on the issue to-date had been “a complete waste of time”.

Suggesting that the Christie administration simply had to pick up where the former government left off, with draft Electricity Act amendments and a Renewable Energy Bill already in development by May 2012, Mr Neymour said there was plentiful “low hanging fruit” waiting to be plucked.

“I have reviewed the Government’s approach to energy, and I consider them to be lost in terms of the way forward,” he told Tribune Business.

He questioned why BEC, as the major energy supplier in the Bahamas, had been placed in the ministerial portfolio of Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis at the Ministry of Works, when it was the Ministry of the Environment that was responsible for the sector and development of renewable energy.

This, Mr Neymour said, meant that two issues which were inextricably linked were being kept apart and separate.

Suggesting that this was unlikely to produce a positive result, the former minister also questioned why the Government appeared to have done nothing with the comprehensive reports produced on the Bahamas’ energy sector, and its reform options, in 2010 by the German consultants, Fichtner.

Indeed, their 400-500 page report on the Bahamas’ renewable energy prospects remains posted on the Bahamas Environment, Science and Technology Commission (BEST) website, and Mr Neymour said Fichtner’s work had been reviewed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), US government agencies and energy experts from India.

And Astrid Wynter, the Bahamas country representative for the IDB, last week said the bank was looking to discuss with the Government how it could implement some of the recommendations contained in the Fichtner reports.

“I’m of the view that the PLP government has not taken the time to simply sit down and read a clear path to addressing the energy issues that was laid down by myself and my unit, and presented to the Cabinet of the Bahamas,” Mr Neymour said.

“All they need to do is review the principles that were reported. Mr Dorsett [minister of the environment] did some copying, in my view, in lifting those policies from the Cabinet paper and presenting them as his own, but they have not moved forward on them.”

The former minister added: “There are a lot of low hanging fruits that can be addressed right now. The Bahamas has an opportunity to address education as it relates to renewable energy.

“The draft amendment to the Electricity Act is on file, which simply allows individuals to connect to the grid. It needs some revision, but is a short-term gap.”

Mr Neymour added that a Renewable Energy Bill, which was also left in draft form, would take more time, but was also left in place.

With all this on the table, many observers questioned at the time why the Christie administration felt it necessary to effectively ‘reinvent the wheel’ by contracting Genting Energy to do a study of the Bahamian energy sector last summer, given that the recent Fichtner reports were still available.

“Because they are stalling for time,” was Mr Neymour’s response when questioned yesterday.

“They are busy appearing to be doing a few things, but they are faced with a situation in which they will either have to privatise BEC or increase BEC’s electricity rates, and they are trying to develop a strategy as to how to do this.”

Energy costs, and reliability, are a major impediment to the Bahamas’ economic competitiveness, while also imposing a drain on its foreign currency reserves and unwanted burden on household incomes.

The sector has long been considered a policy priority for both the Government and the private sector, but execution and implementation has yet to happen. For instance, two draft versions of the National Energy Policy have ben released publicly, but this document has yet to be formally adopted by the Government.