{"id":29677,"date":"2013-01-02T08:08:36","date_gmt":"2013-01-02T13:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/?p=29677"},"modified":"2013-01-02T08:08:36","modified_gmt":"2013-01-02T13:08:36","slug":"grenada-utility-to-remain-in-private-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/2013\/01\/grenada-utility-to-remain-in-private-hands","title":{"rendered":"Grenada Utility To Remain In Private Hands"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Grenada Electricity Services (GRENLEC), which has been privately owned for 18 years, is not reverting to state control.<\/p>\n

Florida-based WRB Enterprises bought majority holdings from government in 1994.<\/p>\n

But WRB, which effectively owned 61.4 percent of GRENLEC, recently offered the Grenada government the option of retaking control of the company by purchasing its shares for some EC$90 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot buy them (the shares). We do not have the money to buy them,\u201d Finance Minister Nazim Burke said at a news conference on Monday in St George\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Burke said, however, that Light & Power Holdings (LPH) of Barbados \u2013 which is majority-owned by Canada-based Emera Inc. \u2013 has \u201creached an understanding\u201d with WRB and is close to completing a purchase agreement for the 61.4 percent shares in GRENLEC, the sole provider and distributor of electricity in Grenada.<\/p>\n

Of the 61.4 percent shares, 50 percent was owned by Grenada Private Power, a subsidiary of WRB.<\/p>\n

Another WRB-owned company, Eastern Caribbean Holdings (ECH), controlled 11.4 percent.<\/p>\n

In anticipation of the LPH takeover of GRENLEC, government has been in negotiations with the Barbadian company and talks are \u201cwell advanced,\u201d said Attorney General Rohan Phillip, who joined Burke at the news conference.<\/p>\n

Phillip and Burke, who have been involved in the negotiations with LPH, said there will be amendment to the Electricity Supply Act to govern an agreement between the Grenada administration and the Barbadian company.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome laws are to be passed,\u201d said Burke, adding that government is establishing a \u201cregulatory framework to serve the best long-term interests of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Monday\u2019s press briefing, government circulated a 20-point document captioned \u201cThe New Framework for Grenada\u2019s Electricity Sector\u201d.<\/p>\n

Point one states that \u201can exclusive licence will be granted to GRENLEC to generate electricity from fossil fuels only.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burke described this as one of the positive outcomes of the negotiations with LPH.<\/p>\n

He said government had broken GRENLEC\u2019s monopoly on electricity supply, and now was separating the generation of renewable energy from non-renewable sources.<\/p>\n

In addition, said the finance minister, government has the right to purchase within 12 months, 11.4 percent of LPH\u2019s 61.4 percent GRENLEC shares. The purchase price will be EC$7.50.<\/p>\n

Burke also announced that government had activated a dormant public utilities commission to act as electricity rate regulators.<\/p>\n

Even though government couldn\u2019t buy the WRB\/ECH shares, said Burke, it used it as a \u201chistoric opportunity\u201d to promote renewable energy, including a proposed project for the introduction of electric vehicles; and to put policies in place that are fair to all Grenadians.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very pleased with the outcome of these negotiations,\u201d said Burke.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government has moved swiftly and decisively to protect and enhance the interests of its citizens in a sector that is vital to national security. Access to affordable, reliable and clean energy is critical for the sustainable economic development of Grenada.\u201d<\/p>\n

The minority partners in an LPH\/Emera-controlled GRENLEC will include the Grenada government with 10 percent shares, and the National Insurance Scheme with 11.6 percent.<\/p>\n

Members of the public \u2013 Grenadians and other Caribbean nationals \u2013 hold 17 percent.<\/p>\n

By Lincoln Depradine<\/span><\/em>
\nCaribbean News Now<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Grenada Electricity Services (GRENLEC), which has been privately owned for 18 years, is not reverting to state control.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[931,212],"class_list":["post-29677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world","tag-grenada","tag-utilities"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29677\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}