by Linda Straker
- Majority shareholder can have 6 persons elected to the Board
- Chairman of the Board of Grenlec not yet disclosed
- Majority shareholder can name chairman and deputy chairman of the Board
Alexandra Otway-Noel who was recently appointed as an advisor in the Office of Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell is among the 9 people elected to serve on the Board of the Grenada Electricity Services (Grenlec). They were elected during the company’s annual general meeting on Thursday, 29 April 2021.
Using both in-person and virtual platform formats, the meeting had participation from the Government of Grenada which is the majority shareholder; the National Insurance Scheme which has more than 10% shares as well as other companies and private individuals with shares in the company.
The 9-member board is:
- Dorset Cromwell
- Devon Charles
- Shawn Charles
- Winifred Duncan-Phillip
- Linda George-Francis
- Kent Mitchell
- Duane Noel
- Alexandra Otway-Noel
- Kay Simon
According to the bylaws of the company, the majority shareholder can have 6 persons elected to the Board.
Public Utilities Minister Norland Cox said that new board members are yet to receive their credentials from the Ministry of Finance, and so he is unable to publicly disclose who will be the chairman of the Board of Grenlec. “The Board was elected at the AGM but the chairman is not elected there. That is done in accordance with the bylaws and I will inform you once that person is named,” Cox said when asked who will be the new chairman. The bylaws provide for the majority shareholder to name both the chairman and the deputy chairman of the Board.
Government in late December 2020 confirmed that it had complied with a tribunal award after WRB Enterprises legal team successfully argued before the International Centre for Settlement Investment Disputes that certain clauses in the 2016 Electricity Supply Act will negatively impact its financial operations.
The tribunal’s judgment which was delivered in March 2020 gave up to 29 December 2020 to settle the repurchasing of majority shares and other fees which tallied US$75 million. The Government was, however, able to settle a final payment of US$63 million. However, $60 million was paid immediately and the remain US$3 million will have to be paid over the 2-year period.
At the time of making the announcement that it had regained the majority shares, Government said that it has already approached the World Bank and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to procure the services of a world-class management company to operate the utility, facilitate the divestment of the shares through public offering, and to advance the country’s objectives towards greater use of renewable energy and achieving energy security, returned reliability, lower prices, and greater access, including the provision of much-needed renewable energy, powered streetlights across the country.
Government is yet to announce the name of the management company.
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This is an opportunity for us to continue with the professional management that’s been in place at Grenlec over the years,so the right and qualified people must be in place for this to happen.
We have to reinvest in order to keep this business on the right track otherwise we will destroy all that has been achieved to get Grenlec where it is today.