Businessman defends power company amid claims it is not reinvesting

By Emmanuel Joseph

Outspoken business owner Ralph Bizzy Williams believes Barbados Light and Power Company (BLPC) should be granted its request for licences to install battery storage facilities under the Clean Energy Transition Rider (CETR).

Williams, the retired executive chairman and founder of Williams Industries, also dismissed claims made in the media, “by some who should know better”, that the power company has not been reinvesting in upgrades, reinvestment and upkeep.

Declaring that he has no financial interest in BLPC, he said the additional investment required in batteries was on top of what the utility company was already investing annually. He contended that the company had submitted that to the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) for pre-approval under the CETR.

President of the Barbados Sustainable Energy Cooperative Society Ltd (Co-op Energy) Retired Lieutenant Colonel Trevor Browne has been adamant that BLPC has not been reinvesting to meet customer requirements and expectations as it did prior to its takeover by Emera Inc. of Canada over a decade ago.                                                       

Only last week, in his objection to the power company’s application for licences to install battery storage facilities, Browne said that while $538 million in dividends was paid to shareholders between the last rate review in 2010 and 2021 – 21 per cent of BLPC’s total revenues for the period – for that same period, less than $100 million – four per cent of total revenue – was reinvested in the company to fund urgently needed upgrades, reinvestment and upkeep. He noted that prior to Emera gaining control, BLPC typically reinvested more than 70 per cent of its net income to meet customer requirements and expectations.

But Williams said the power company had made crucial investments.

“It’s the significant additional investment in batteries and related equipment, on top of what BLPC has already been investing annually, that BLPC has applied to the FTC for pre-approval. Without that approval, the Barbados move to [100 per cent] renewables will remain dead,” the businessman contended.

He was adamant that the BLPC has continued to invest heavily in spite of the challenges, and without an extension on the licence.

“I am very concerned about the anti-business rhetoric that I am hearing in the media and some of the crazy proposals that are being made by people who have no track record of running a successful business. In my view, if we continue down this road, we could as well kiss our lofty plans to be powered 100 per cent by renewable sources of energy by 2030, or even by 2040, goodbye,” Williams declared.

“I do not have one cent invested in the BLPC but it breaks my heart to listen to the rhetoric directed at the hardworking Bajans who manage the BLPC and provide Barbados with the most consistent electricity supply in the Caribbean.”

The prominent entrepreneur reported that between the 2010 rate case and now, BLPC has made capital investments of over $800 million and grown the asset base of the company by over $300 million

“Over that period, BLPC’s average annual capital investment in new plant, equipment and maintenance of around $70 million per year is one of, if not the largest in the island’s private sector. Additionally, BLPC’s operating and maintenance expenses are over $100 million, which has allowed them to remain responsive to customer needs,” he asserted. 

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb