By: Staff Writer
December 29, 2020
The Grenada government’s “unwillingness” to work together to keep Grenlec delivering consistent power to Grenadians has forced the Tampa based power company, WRB, to drop Grenlec after it won their court case.
In a statement to calls from Caribbean Magazine Plus, WRB, the company that owned a 50 percent stake in the Grenadian power company, Grenlec, said through its chairman and managing director G. Robert Blanchard Jr ““We would have preferred to stay and continue our involvement for another quarter-century; however, Government’s unwillingness to work in a collaborative process – despite our numerous attempts – prevented us from moving forward together constructively.”
“We want to stress that WRB/GPP never sought this path and we would have preferred to continue our work in Grenada. Our mission and focus has always been to serve in the best interests of customers, employees, shareholders, and all Grenadians who depend on Grenlec for safe, reliable, and efficient electricity services.”
The Grenadian government recently lost its court case against WRB where the former was mandated by court order to live up to an agreement entered into in 1994 that if the government did not keep particular covenants that the government would have to repurchase Grenlec shares from WRB as part of that agreement.
Government’s repurchase of WRB/GPP’s shares in Grenlec was based on a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) entered into in 1994. Government’s enactment of the 2016 Electricity Supply Act triggered the repurchase event under the SPA and left WRB/GPP with no choice but to proceed with arbitration.
WRB Enterprises (WRB) and Grenada Private Power Limited (GPP) today announced it had executed a Settlement Agreement with the Government of Grenada, effective December 24, 2020. Under that Agreement, WRB/GPP and related parties transferred their majority stake in Grenlec to the Government in exchange for the payment of USD $63 million, thereby making the Government of Grenada the majority shareholder of Grenlec.
Mr Blanchard added: ““While we are sad to exit our investment in Grenlec, we are proud to have transformed it into a world-class utility system: one of the best-run utilities in the Caribbean. We leave our involvement in Grenlec comfortable in the knowledge that the team in place today is capable of continuing to bring the utility forward at the highest level possible.”
The opposition Natinal Democratic Congress, in a statement about the government’s court battle loss, on the other hand said: “The nation is aware that the Government of Grenada lost the case against WRB with respect to the repurchase of the GRENLEC shares.”
“The arbitration tribunal awarded over $200m dollars to WRB, the main shareholder in GRENLEC. In the face of defeat, the Government has been engaged in discussions with some unknown foreign interests to raise money to repurchase the shares.”
“In the early days, Minister Gregory Bowen announced that potential Grenadian shareholders will be afforded opportunities to purchase shares in the company.”
“After the initial impact of the ruling, government bluntly refused to discuss the matter. Now it seems that the issue has taken a new turn. Reliable reports reaching the NDC indicate that the government has struck yet another secret deal with a non-Grenadian interest to purchase the shares.”
“The NDC is of the view that any such deal should be done in a transparent manner and the nation must be made aware of the details. Extensive national consultation must be held, and any proposed deal should be debated in and approved by Parliament before it is finalized.”
“When the NDC administration contracted to sell 50 percent of the shares in GRENLEC to WRB, it did so following an entirely public, transparent process, including national consultations and issuing invitations for interested buyers to submit bids. All agreements signed were tabled in Parliament and ultimately formed part of the laws of Grenada in the Electricity Supply Act 1994. Despite this, the NNP pursued a senseless vendetta for 26 years, wrongly claiming it was a bad deal.”
“Now that WRB has brought us from the days of load shedding and black outs under Bowen, to a consistent and reliable supply of electricity, it appears that the NNP has struck a secret deal in the dead of the night, when the nation is preoccupied with a most stressful Christmas season.”
“GRENLEC is a national asset, and any move to sell majority interest in the company must be subject to national scrutiny. The nation deserves no less.”
Reports indicate that while the current New National Party (NNP) Grenadian government may be strapped for cash that they are lining up financiers to repurchase the shares and fulfil the court order.
