Discussions and conversations on the ongoing saga between the Anguilla Electricity Company Limited (ANGLEC) and the Water Corporation of Anguilla (WCA) moved to the airwaves on Anguilla and on social media this week. On Wednesday, ANGLEC’s CEO, Mr Sutcliffe Hodge, spoke with Mr Keithstone Greaves, host of the radio programme Talk Anguilla Rebranded, to give clarity to some of the discussion points on the issue.
As of Wednesday, July 20, ANGLEC appeared to be no closer to a financial settlement of over EC$13 million in outstanding arrears encumbered by WCA, over the years, than it was on Monday, July 11, when it suspended electricity service to WCA for non-payment. In fact, WCA had not even paid its current bill for electricity used.
Giving an historic perspective, CEO Hodge noted that when he joined the organisation and recognised that there was a huge outstanding debt that ANGLEC was carrying for the WCA, he made contact with the Premier and the Minister with responsibility for the WCA to which he was told that the government of Anguilla does not owe ANGLEC, and the debt of which he spoke belonged to the WCA.
“I reached out to the WCA to understand their position with respect to how they intend to settle the debt, only to be told that they were cash-strapped and that 87% of their water was going into the ground. Recognising that this was an untenable situation, and that it was unlikely that ANGLEC would be able to recover these outstanding monies from the WCA, I continued to engage with the government to which there was really no response,” Mr Hodge noted.
He explained that, on behalf of ANGLEC, he had sent letters of correspondence to the Chairman of the WCA requesting that immediate action was needed to address the arrears. Premier Webster and Minister Hughes were also copied on the correspondence.
Mr Hodge indicated that he subsequently received a phone call from the Premier who informed him that the WCA was a statutory corporation and a necessity to the island and, as such, he could not disconnect them. However, the Premier did commit to paying some money towards the outstanding debt.
A second letter was sent by ANGLEC informing the WCA that the debt needed to be addressed because ANGLEC was facing real challenges due to high fuel cost, and most of the monies collected by the company had to be spent on purchasing diesel just to keep the lights on for everybody in Anguilla.
Mr Hodge stated that ANGLEC gave the WCA seven days notice to come up with a reasonable arrangement whereby they would address the serious and significant outstanding debt, and that failure to do so would result in suspension of their electricity supply from ANGLEC. WCA did not respond to this notice and, consequently, ANGLEC disconnected the electricity service to the WCA.
Mr Hodge indicated that a week ago, he received two separate phone calls from Minister Kentish-Rogers and Premier Webster about the matter. The Premier informed him that there was a meeting planned in Executive Council to determine a way forward. However, there has been no further communication with him regarding the matter.
Mr Hodge indicated that the WCA is the biggest debtor to ANGLEC while there are a few other customers with a cumulative debt of about $3 million. Regardless of the amount of the debt incurred, ANGLEC’s debt collection unit is aggressively taking steps to collect all outstanding debt rather than further increase the fuel surcharge.
“We are not discriminatory in the approach [to debt collection]. We are trying to collect the debt from anyone who owes ANGLEC money. If we are unable to collect outstanding debt, just in order to survive, we could be forced into a situation where we would have to again increase the fuel surcharge. I have promised the people of Anguilla that that is the last thing I would like to do again,” Mr Hodge added.
He appealed to all customers: “If you use the service, we are merely asking that you honour that obligation and settle your debt. We are mindful that there are some people who are struggling financially, and our staff will be relatively sensible and sympathetic, but what we are not going to do is open up ourselves to be abused by those who think that they can get away without paying their debt.”
In speaking with programme host, Keithstone Greaves, Mr Hodge sought to clarify two points made by Premier Webster at the government press briefing on Monday, July 18.
In the press briefing, Premier Webster noted that whether or not the WCA is connected to ANGLEC, ANGLEC still has to run its generators and put diesel in them. Mr Hodge explained that “the more the demand for electricity the higher the consumption of diesel, and what we have been able to quantify is that by keeping the WCA connected, it was costing ANGLEC in excess of $200,000 a month for diesel. So, that is a direct conservative cost. There is an expense in keeping on a large customer like the WCA and them not paying their debt.”
According to Mr Hodge, another point made by the Premier at the press briefing is that he gave the public the impression that the government of Anguilla is subsidising ANGLEC by not collecting the 7% Environmental Levy. “To the contrary,” Mr Hodge said. He noted that some years ago, the government of Anguilla requested that the government-appointed Board of ANGLEC write off some $10 million in debt for the government of Anguilla, but a debt that is written off cannot and should not be ignored. The government is a continuum and ANGLEC – as a private corporation – cannot sit back and allow any entity to think that it will not collect $10 million.
Mr Hodge noted that, in addition to the $10 million debt, the government – over the years – overcharged $15 million to ANGLEC “in the form of duties on diesel…a debt we intend to collect.”
Commenting on the recent government stimulus package, Mr Hodge said that the money is being paid on the customers’ accounts and it benefits the customers. He observed: “It doesn’t help ANGLEC per se. It helps customers to pay their bills to ANGLEC, which is a good thing. It is not a stimulus to ANGLEC; it is a stimulus to the customers who are benefitting from the two tranches of $500 each, for which we are grateful.”
