The Tribune

THE Free National Movement has accused the Davis administration of locking Bahamians into “bad deals” that could push electricity costs as high as 50 to 55 cents per kilowatt-hour and saddle consumers with a recurring $1m monthly burden.

In a statement yesterday, FNM leader Michael Pintard said the party has begun reviewing 3,260 pages of energy reform agreements recently released and claimed the documents reveal arrangements designed to favour private interests over the public.

“What we can already tell the Bahamian people is this: these are bad deals,” Mr Pintard said. “And when you see who benefits and who pays, it will be clear that these agreements were structured with private interests in mind, not yours.”

At the centre of the FNM’s criticism are the contracted generation rates under the new power purchase agreements. Mr Pintard said some agreements reach as high as 30.4 cents per kilowatt-hour for certain islands.

“The mathematics are straightforward,” he said. “When you add fuel surcharges on top of these base rates, Bahamian consumers could face a combined cost of up to 50 to 55 cents per kilowatt-hour. That is not modernisation, that is a generational tax on every household, every business, every school, and every hospital in this country.”

The FNM cited a rate of 22.96 cents per kilowatt-hour from the Power Purchase Agreement between Bahamas Power and Light and Energy Bahamas Holdings Limited. It said the 30.4 cents figure reflects the effective calculated rate for Cat Island based on its analysis of the agreements.

Mr Pintard also argued that the agreements lack meaningful enforcement mechanisms.

“In any legitimate public-private partnership of this scale, one principle is non-negotiable: clear, enforceable performance standards,” he said. “If a private company is being paid public money over 20 to 25 years, the public must have the right to measure what it is getting and to get its money back, or terminate the arrangement, if the company fails to deliver.”

He said the performance indicators and liquidated damages provisions in the documents reviewed so far fall below what comparable international agreements require.

“In plain terms: these private companies have been handed guaranteed payments with no effective mechanism to hold them accountable,” Mr Pintard said.

The FNM further raised concerns about the cost of the government’s policy providing the first 200 kilowatt-hours of electricity free to residential customers. It said that amounts to roughly 17 million kilowatt-hours per month for which BPL collects no revenue.

Under the new arrangements, Bahamas Grid Company will bill BPL 5.5 cents per kilowatt-hour for every unit transmitted, including those provided free to consumers, the FNM said. The party estimates that could cost about $1m per month.

“That someone is the Bahamian people,” Mr Pintard said, referring to who would ultimately bear the cost.

He called on the government to release detailed billing models and revenue projections if it disputes the FNM’s estimates.

The statement also alleged that multiple private entities stand to benefit from comfort letters, minimum off-take guarantees and long-term provisions embedded in the agreements.

“We will name them. We will follow the money. And we will ask, on behalf of the Bahamian people, the question this government refuses to answer: whose interests do these deals actually serve?” Mr Pintard said.

The FNM described its findings as preliminary and said it will continue reviewing the 3,260-page document release and issue further statements.