Atlantis executives have been in discussions with the government “for the last three months” over the possibility of installing their own alternative power generation systems as a means to reduce their $70 million annual electricity bill.
According to Brookfield Hospitality’s President and Managing Director George Markantonis, Atlantis’ parent company is “very keen” to pursue these types of options as a means of lowering the proportion of the resort’s overall costs contributed by energy.
“We have never suggested coming off the grid completely, but have discussed with government various methods of energy generation that might be considered in The Bahamas. Our parent corporation has a good deal of expertise in this field internationally,” said Markantonis, in an interview with Guardian Business on Friday.
His comments come shortly after the government announced that it is looking to move aggressively to reduce electricity costs in this country by means of private sector involvement in the operation of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation.
The recent initiatives by Atlantis to put forward some of its own solutions to high power costs may be viewed by some to go a way towards explaining the government’s decision to proceed as rapidly as it has announced that it will with energy reform.
In a statement released on August 13, the prime minister said the government is “embarking on a realignment of the energy sector”, with plans to create two new BEC entities into which the relevant assets, liabilities and operations of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation will be transferred.
Under currently existing timelines, the government expects to sign contracts with the two companies to take over operations of these two entities by early 2014, to allow for them to begin carrying out their responsibilities under the contracts in May 2014.
The reform is part of a larger plan for reform of the energy sector, which some observers have called for the government to spell out more definitively and transparently before it moves ahead.
Speaking in the wake of his announcement regarding BEC, Prime Minister Perry Christie indicated that part of the impetus for moving ahead swiftly with energy reform was approaches by “big hotels” indicating they want to “come off the grid”.
“They have now come to us saying they want to come off the electricity grid to a certain point by generating electricity of their own. That is bad for The Bahamas if it happens that way because if the big companies come off the grid because they are going to use wind farms or solar, then the Bahamian people will have to pay more because then these companies that carry a lot will not be around.
“So we have been giving them assurances that we are moving as quickly as possible now to bring about a result where the cost of electricity for them will be dramatically decreased,” said Christie.
Asked if Atlantis was one of these hotels, Markantonis admitted that it is.
He added that specific options have been proposed to the government in terms of how it might move to tackle some of its power needs through alternative power supplies, but stressed that any of these options would have to be “tested” first to ensure their viability given the environment and demand that exists.
Brookfield Asset Management, which took control of Atlantis and the One&Only Club from Kerzner International in November 2011, is a parent company of Brookfield Renewable Power Inc. which invests in renewable power assets globally.
Markantonis said Atlantis is “very pleased” with announcement regarding BEC, and “looks forward to reduced energy costs as anxiously as anyone else in The Bahamas”.
“The government has assured us that they are working aggressively to reduce energy costs across The Bahamas in our meetings with them we’ve been very pleased and very supportive and are waiting to hear how that will be done.”
Asked if the government’s announced intentions for BEC would cause Atlantis to put its alternative power generation proposals on the back burner, Markantonis said it would not.
“We’re having discussions on options. We would need to do tests of various types of alternative energy. We don’t know what will work or not. There are specific criteria which allows them to work in various countries.”
By Alison Lowe
Guardian Business Editor
