The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Staff  are “anxious to learn PowerSecure’s “game plan” for the Bahamas Electriccity Corporation (BEC), a trade union leader said yesterday, with the Government said to be nearing completion of the new manager’s transition arrangements.

  Paul Maynard, the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union’s (BEWU) president, said: “We haven’t heard anything more on it. I assume they will be contacting us some time this week. It’s just a wait and see. As long as it’s in order we will go with it. If it’s not you will hear me screaming.

“The employees are anxious as to what PowerSecure is going to do. We are waiting to see the game plan and we will go from there.”

The Government has selected PowerSecure as the Corporation’s manager, and plans to give it a five-year contract to oversee BEC’s generation and transmission/distribution, although the deal has not yet been finalised.

Addressing the Eleuthera Business Outlook last month, Prime Minister Perry Christie said that he had met with the unions representing BEC to assure them they would be involved in the transition process.

While a transition agreement is said to be near, the management agreement remains to be completed and a business plan agreed upon.

The Government had initially planned to divide BEC into two separate entities, with one company to run the transmission, distribution and customer billing, while another company would offer power generation.

The Government, however, subsequently opted to apply the ‘NAD model’ as the chosen pathway for BEC reform. This will see it retain 100 per cent equity ownership, with Power Secure running and managing the asset on its behalf.