The Barbados Light & Power Company (BL&P) has been established in Barbados since 1911. If we were to give the company a rating based on the level of service delivered to Barbadians through the years, it would be have to be a high number. We perused the company’s 2007 Annual Report and observed it enjoyed a net income of BDS58.3 million which was a 48% increase over the previous year! It is no secret that the BL&P remains Barbados only true monopoly and it is this status which has caused us to put the BL&P under the microscope.
“Light & Power Holdings Ltd. is an investment company with electricity being its core business. The Company has a wholly owned regulated electric utility, The Barbados Light & Power Company Ltd.” We wonder how many Barbadians are aware that the BL&P considers itself as an investment company. It is against this knowledge that we find it interesting the BL&P entered “two new ventures…, the telecom projects. TeleBarbados and the Antilles Crossing Group, in which Light & Power Holdings has invested. These projects have increased international telecommunications capacity to Barbados by more than twenty times and helped reduce the cost of telecommunications service between Barbados and the rest of the world by more than fifty million dollars.” We find the investment in the telecommunications sector by BL&P to be insightful which has occurred against the background of a failed alternative energy strategy for Barbados to date.
For a little while in the existence of BU we enjoyed a cordial relationship with Chief Marketing Manager of the BL&P Stephen Worme. Unfortunately when the BU family continued to question the lack of a clear alternative energy strategy by the BL&P Mr. Worme turned his back on us. It is interesting that as he did so he has sought comfort in disseminating the company line in the traditional media.
In light of the current climate of rising oil prices the lack of a relevant and intelligent alternative energy policy by the BL&P has had to be placed squarely under the microscope. Our best research which has been supported by BL&P’s public position is the proposed “10 MW wind farm, which the Company proposes to construct at Lamberts, St. Lucy. The Company now awaits a response from the Town & Country Development Planning Office to its application for the wind farm. The Company has also started detailed discussions with the Cane Industry Restructuring Project for the supply of electricity into the grid from a proposed cogeneration plant which would utilize bagasse from the new sugar and ethanol processing facility that the Government proposes to commission at Bulkeley, St. George.”
The BU family continues to be worried how the BL&P, and by extension the government could have been caught with their pants down. It is fair to say that the lack of a sensible alternative energy policy demonstrated by the BL&P et al has the potential to seriously compromise the security of future generations of Barbados. It concerns the BU household that in the current environment the buzz and consensus suggests that a viable national energy policy should be based on renewable sources. Instead the BL&P published in their 2007 report, “the Company was therefore very pleased when the Governments of Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago gave their blessing to the proposed undersea natural gas pipeline from Tobago to Barbados and work was able to proceed on the more detailed studies required for the financing and construction of this multi-million dollar project.” Does the BL&P expect the BU family to accept that they would have failed to persuade the Town Planning department and by extension the government the benefit of constructing the wind farm at Lamberts Plantation? The previous government went ahead by implementing the unpopular Greenland and ABC Highway, why not the wind farm?
In the same way C&W Ltd has had to open-up to the scrutiny of the Fair Trading Commission (FTC), why not the BL&P? We have found that the BL&P is a company where past and present employees close ranks despite public concerns which questions competence based on futuristic national needs. We have received communications in the past that all is not well at the Bush Hill company but we have not been able to fully source the cause of the problems.
What we want the BU family to discuss is whether the current structure at the BL&P positions it to take Barbados where it needs to be. For example the culture at the BL&P suggests that it is a male club which looks after its own until cradle to grave. Our sources suggest that many retired BL&P senior managers enjoy contracts which translate to consulting fees. How the BL&P has been able to pursue this strategy is not known but the FTC, consumer advocates, media houses and John Public should sit-up and take and interest. The shareholders at the next AGM must start to ask questions. Can we eyeball the contracts given to the Richards, Mcconneys et al? Can we see the reports which they have submitted to date to justify fees paid.
The BU family must be concerned about the competence of the BL&P management in the prevailing climate. The role of the BL&P has become critical to how quickly Barbados can develop a viable alternative energy plan. The reality is while the developed countries can survive on $10.00 per gallon gas it would disseminate the way of life which Barbadians have become comfortable. The 2700 shareholders in the BL&P continue to enjoy good dividends so why should they care about the company shifting to an alternative energy plan based on renewable sources.
Barbadians should take note that the current model ensures that the butts of the BL&P management are covered with the current fuel charge arrangement. The BU family humbly submits that the time has come to place the BL&P under microscope. The quality of life of future generations of Barbadians depends on it.
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