A court battle continues to determine whether the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) or the Utilities Relation and Competition Authority (URCA) is the lawful regulator for the Grand Bahama Power Company (GBPC).
According to URCA Corporate and Consumer Relations Manager Juan McCartney the Electricity Act 2015 made URCA the regulator for electricity in the entire country including all of Grand Bahama which has been disputed. A new Electricity Act was passed in 2024 which removed the GBPA as an approving authority in the country.
McCartney said, “Grand Bahama Power Company has disputed that and Grand Bahama Port Authority has also disputed that. That’s a matter of them not wanting to have to be regulated by two entities. So the Grand Bahama Port Authority is of the view in their court filings that the Hawksbill Creek Agreement under certain provisions gives them the power to regulate utilities in the Port area.”
The URCA Official added, “what the new act did is instead of making the Grand Bahama Port Authority a public electricity supplier it made the Grand Bahama Power Company a public electricity supplier and an approving authority to authorize public electricity suppliers.”
URCA has been acting as power regulator in the country including Grand Bahama since 2015. In GBPA publications they cite themselves as the regulatory authority with responsibility for the power sector in Grand Bahama. McCartney said, “we believe that attempting to have any regulatory action at this time would probably spur further court action. As it stands the court action prevents any regulatory action taking effect at this time.”
