The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The  Bahamas Electrical Managers Union’s (BEMU) president yesterday said it would “wait and see” what unfolds following the announcement that BEC’s newly-appointed manager is being acquired in a $431 million deal.

Clinton Minnis urged PowerSecure International’s prospective purchaser, Southern Company, to “speak clearly” to Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) employees and the public on the matter.

Mr Minnis, speaking with Tribune Business, yesterday said: “It’s a very interesting development at this time. How this will affect the management services agreement? We will just have to wait and see.

“We were supposed to meet tomorrow with the new chief executive of Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) about the terms of the management services agreement and the business plan.

“I got a call this morning to say that that meeting was rescheduled and I don’t know if it has to do with this development. The union will wait to see what unfolds.”

Mr Minnis added: “We think that the Government needs to speak clearly to the public and the employees of BEC concerning this new development and what it means for PowerSecure, our relationship with this Southern Company and what it means for the way forward.

“It’s very interesting but it’s really not something that we anticipated would have happened. I don’t know if the Government was aware that they were in discussions about this arrangement; the union certainly wasn’t. Those are the questions that the union would have.”

Paul Maynard, the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union (BEWU) president, said yesterday that he was not overly concerned about the development.

“Mergers and acquisitions take place all the time. That is what makes companies stronger. I think it could only benefit us if a company like that is going to buy PowerSecure. I don’t think it’s going to make any big difference for us here. I don’t think it’s anything to make a big deal about. I’m not worried about that,” said Mr Maynard.

PowerSecure  announced yesterday that Southern Company, the Atlanta-based utility giant, will acquire it for $431 million. PowerSecure will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Southern Company.

On February 9, PowerSecure signed a five-year management services agreement with the Government to provide management services to Bahamas Power and Light (BPL), BEC’s newly-created subsidiary.