BANGO, the lone Intervenor at the upcoming FTC hearing on the Application for a Depreciation Policy for the Barbados Light & Power Ltd has advised that they have successfully submitted its response – See BANGO’s Submission
Related Link – BANGO Is The Sole Intervenor At Barbados Light And Power Hearing
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I want you to tighten your arguments and cover any flaws there may be. Therefore, I am going to tell you what I know to see if you have alternative answers that would keep your theory intact. So if I seem to be answering the question, it is that I trying to get from you what I don’t know.
I want to clear the air on expenses. You said: “Should projected profits by midyear look to be 10 million too high, you just need to buy a spare engine or trucks- along with some high priced consultants or exotic ‘staff training’. This will quickly bring year end profits back in line”.
There is something called prudent spending. What was also raised in the issues conference was the company’s credibility and public confidence that they will not simply buy expensive stuff because the customer pays.
Also these high-priced employment/training, etc. comes under scrutiny and if it is found that their duties/purposes are extraneous, then it will not fall under the category of allowable expenses.
Remember that this is only for regulatory purposes. It does not stop them from hiring the person and adding it to their financials, but this does not hide anything from the FTC, which will count those expenses as profit.
If you are saying that the financials are for building public confidence, I can see with you, but this is not an argument for a raise in rates.
From our experience with C&W, all that fat is trimmed and put back into the profits pot. For example, C&W was not allowed a lot of what they claimed; sponsorship of cricket, some advertising expenses, even expenses on equipment which we found were bound for St. Lucia but because it passed through C&W Barbados, they sought to claim that amount as a legitimate expense for Barbados.
The scrutiny is serious. See from pages 20 – 35 for treatment of expenses, at:
http://www.ftc.gov.bb/library/2004-07-20_commission_decision_candw_rate_review.pdf
Question for BL&P
I forgot to say that your responses are worth more than a second look.
Straight Talk
Like your contribution. Are these deferred taxes? I am not too sure what you mean by tax losses???
ROK:
It is very simple to me, a layman.
Light and Power Holding don’t make a profit.
No profit , no taxes.
Where do you get this $58m profit from, then I’ll defer.
They made an announcement that they made $58M last financial year and went on to state that it was 48% more than in the previous financial year. It was reported in the media and should be in their last annual report, but this is not disputed.
Straight Talk
It does not mean that you are wrong. You may be on to something here. That is why I asked if you are speaking of deferred taxes and I would like you to explain tax losses to me because I am not familiar with the term.
David
At the hearing we made a request to record the hearing. Here is a link to the first 20 minutes of the hearing. Sorry it could not be longer but technical challenges intervened. However, we undertake to bring you full recordings of the proceedings day by day:
http://www.ideas4lease.com/reports/ftc/issues_hearing_first_20_minutes.wma
Request for volunteers. Requirement: camera-operator(s).
Creative Junction (www.creativejunction.com) have kindly agreed to lend BANGO FOC a high-end DV video camera and tri-pod for the hearing.
We are in need of one or more operators. Preferably people with at least some camera experience (don’t pan while zoomed, etc).
Please e-mail me at cameracrew@ideas4lease.com if you feel you can help. The hearing starts on the 27th for up to four days, starting at 0930 each day.
Thanks for any assistance anyone might be able to provide.
ROK you sound like a lil boy! ha ha ha ha.
I am not surprise by Douglas Skeete’s submission. Never the less congratulation to BANGO for making the effort, and for taking the time to ensure that the people are not taken for a ride, and for also sending message that the people are watching, the people are thinking, the people are working together in their collective interest.
AH
Thanks for the complement. BU family showing how technology can be used to educate and inform and give people opportunities to participate.
Thanks to BU. We have more good news. Got a call from the Commission giving permission for a video recording and broadcast. We will be stream via internet. It will be available here, guys. I am not sure if David would accommodate a live stream here on BU, but you can certainly go to BANGO TV, which is also on the Speaking Up blog. Possibly BCW TV too which is also on the BCW Blog.
Congrats to the BANGO team so far. ROK/Chris send us the link in advance and we will see what we can do to support the effort.
Repeat request for volunteer(s). Requirement: camera-operator(s).
Please note we have still not had a single person volunteer to help BANGO record the hearing.
Again, up to four days, starting on the 27th. From 0930 to 1300 each day.
Please help if you can. Email us at cameracrew@ideas4lease.com . Confidentiality ensured if desired.
@Chris
You must know by now that the BU family operates under the cloak of anonymity.
@David… Yeah, I know…
But anonymity doesn’t (or, at least, shouldn’t) mean impotence….
(Please forgive me for my above. I’m in extreme high-bandwidth mode. With absolutely no sense of humour or patience at the moment…)
@ROK, Chris and the BANGO team, Good Luck and God speed tomorrow!
@David et al. Thanks.
We’re off to see the wizard! (Lawyers and Accountants and Engineers! Oh my!)
@All. For the record…
The following PDF document was submitted to the FTC et al at the Depreciation Hearing today as BANGO’s Opening Statement.
http://www.ideas4lease.com/reports/ftc/blp_depreciation_hearing_20080127_bango_opening_statement.pdf
The following two links are audio capture files during the hearing using an “Olympus DS-30 Digital Voice Recorder” (never enter a meeting without it…):
http://www.ideas4lease.com/reports/ftc/blp_depreciation_hearing_20080127_start.wma
http://www.ideas4lease.com/reports/ftc/blp_depreciation_hearing_20080127_end.wma
Now, where shall we place our next stone…?
(Please forgive me for this, but this is a reference to a very old, very simple yet very complex — and amazingly beautiful — game called “Go”. Google for “Go Game Japan” for further details.)
Thanks for the support, from where it’s coming from….
David,
We are in a bit of a bind. Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Conference Centre is charging $100.00 bds for access to the internet. This restricts us from streaming. However, we will produce some video tomorrow and find a way to upload them.
They explained that they have to get the technicians to install it and therefore if you want it for an hour or a day, the charge is the same.
Thanks to Chris for the audio. BTW, from all reports Chris received many congratulations for his performance today. I missed it as I could not be there early because of another previous official engagement.
BANGO: DAC Could benefit Consumers
One of BANGO’s advocates Chris Halsall, in the Barbados Light & Power Co. Depreciation Hearing, dubbed the "preliminary to a substantive rate hearing later", told the Commission in his opening statement that BANGO will be seeking to introduce to the Commission a recommendation for the adoption of a Depreciation Adjustment Clause (DAC).
Halsall, in his opening address stated: "We believe we cannot therefore appropriately deliberate depreciation policy without reflecting on its effects. The Intervenors represent a national constituency of electricity users who are being asked to pay and it is the responsibility of the Commission, if it agrees with an amount to be included in the tariff, which it is asking Barbados to pay, and the company no longer needs the full amount, then certainly there ought to be a mechanism which allows that part of the tariff to be repatriated to the consumer."
For full text click here: Opening Statement
The introduction of this clause will see reduction in rates as Depreciation is achieved and/or reduced. Of course if the depreciation goes up, so will your bill, but the point is rather than pay one rate without the opportunity of lower rates in between, you allow them to fluctuate to the benefit of the consumer.
This would operate similar to the fuel adjustment clause, so that from time to time, your electric bill will be reduced accordingly.
Below are links to a live recording of the hearing. We hope to bring you video recordings from tomorrow. We regret that because of the high cost of internet access, $100 whether for an hour or a day.
BANGO is being represented by Chris Halsall, Douglas Skeete and Roosevelt King.
Audio Recordings:
Even though Chris gets me fed up because of his pedantic style sometimes on this blog,yesterday I was real proud of him at the hearing representing the BU family.
Well done Chris.
By the way I thought Chris was black,not that it matters,but I saw a picture in the Nation sometime back of chris hasall giving some prize to a child and the person represented to be Chris was black with glasses.
David you must know how widely read your blog is,because I believe that BANGO would not have received the support itis getting from people like Dougla skeete and others or ROK be invited on to the VOB call in show if he was not given support here on the blogs.
What do you think david?
Are there a lot of influential people who contact you privately on matters,and do you also get the sense that this blog is reaching government officials and others of influence in the country?
Thanks for the kind words everyone.
The game continues…
As a quick aside, I find it amusing that the Advocate can’t even spell my name right (even though I’ve written for them) They also made a fundamental error in the article about the hearing.
To correct it (because it’s *very* important)…
Advocate: “He said BANGO’s submission was that the company had not sought a rate increase because “it is able to juggle with a high amortisation rate”.
From BANGO’s Opening Statement: “We submit, Sir, that this *may* be one reason the company has not sought a rate increase – because it is able to juggle with a high amortisation rate.
The *bolding* is mine here, pointing out the importance a single word can have.
(And to Anonymous above: sometimes being pedantic and precise is important. (smile))
Anonymous
You really think the blog has done that much for BANGO? I has done a lot but in a different respect.
Doug was with the intervenors in the C&W hearing and Chris started working with BANGO before we even started contributing to this blog.
Also, that was not the first Sunday I found myself on VOB but the first time since being on this blog. I have been prodding David Ellis for radio time for a while and I am still butting my head against a wall with him. The media in general anyhow, they say that we are not sensational enough; too dry. The truth is that journalism has changed and journalists don’t “waste” time developing informative stories.
What I would say though, is that being on this blog has done a lot to widen interests and it has been an opportunity to share important information with a wider audience.
In itself this is a great achievement over the mainstream media and this kind of contribution is not to be underestimated. Just putting it in perspective. We did not have this facility for the C&W hearing. Wish we had.
@All… For the record…
http://www.ideas4lease.com/reports/ftc/blp_depreciation_hearing_20080128.wma
A useful thing about working on a team is that, when one of you is taking damage, another can step forward and inflict same.
Today D.Skeete showed us proud!
@anonymous
BU is read by many prominent people in Barbados that we can say for sure.
@ Chris & BANGO team
We continue to feel proud that we have citizens who are driven to honour their civic duty.
Good speed!
@All… For the record…
http://www.ideas4lease.com/reports/ftc/blp_depreciation_hearing_20090129.wma
Douglas Skeete once again did his job. Well….
David,
It would really be a welcomed relief if somebody could anonymously pay for the internet for us to stream the final day tomorrow on internet at Sherbourne. It is $100, which we don’t have. We are already saddled with other costs.
Today saw Douglas Skeete doing some damage. I wondered if Mr. Huck would have got anything right at one point in time.
However, it seems to have been a simple case of a witness not walking with his notes… but then again some of the important questions were about differences in data or calculation.
Tomorrow is the winding up, starting at 10:15 or 10:30 a.m. Three speakers are expected to make final submissions tomorrow, Sir Henry Forde, BANGO (me) and Olson Robertson. We expect to be completed before 1 p.m.
Hoping that a kind member of the BU family can give us internet or knows someone that can. You can always send somebody to pay in BANGO’s name. Praying.
Anonymous
I did not even thank you for your comments. I must apologise. I was probably a little more uptight last night, but your comments deserve a huge thank you on behalf of the BANGO Team.
Hope the finale goes well ROK and BANGO team!
@All… For the record…
http://www.ideas4lease.com/reports/ftc/blp_depreciation_hearing_20090130.wma
Today saw Closing Statements. And the end of the Hearing.
If I may use another Go metaphor…
Today saw ROK place several well placed stones reinforcing, supporting and strengthening the stones that Douglas Skeete and I placed earlier.
As an aside, I must thank ROK and Douglas. I’ve learnt a great deal from them during this process.
Thanks Chris Halsall, ROK, ad Douglas SkeeTe Thanksa million that you could take time for MY FAMILY AND I!
Thanks
While it may seem that people were not as interested in this issue as they should have been, I am sure that the efforts of ROK, Chris Halsall, Douglas Skeete and BANGO are appreciated by all.
Notice have been served that there are still capable people willing to take on corporate Barbados.
Perhaps one day soon, other consumers will awaken from their coma and lend assitance in future battles.
I have always had a lot of respect for intervenors going all the way back to mrs Bamjee and wendell mcclean.
So you can imagine how much more proud I was that our BU family,ROK and Chris Halsall along with the able assistance of Doug Skeete did us all proud.
[…] most important thing about our exercise on BU is that it provided an opportunity and a captive audience for sharing the information. Indeed […]
@All… For the record…
BANGO’s Closing Statement as read into the Hearings record by Roosevelt King (ROK):
http://www.ideas4lease.com/reports/ftc/blp_depreciation_hearing_20090130_bango_closing_statement.pdf
ROK
I just got up ………. and heard that the BL&P has gotten the go ahead!
Whats next? Have we the consumers lost?
JC
Not at all. We have not lost anything. They got the go-ahead with their depreciation policy, but for the very first time in the history of regulatory orders, a utility company has been ordered to produce annual regulatory financial statements in Barbados.
Indeed, while the media has been playing to the company’s approval, We won a fight yesterday that was started by Wendell McClean way back in 1983. I am sure he must be smiling.
The BL&P Co. announced yesterday that it will be filing its application for a rate hearing within the next two months.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.