CAY BAY--Utilities company GEBE Managing Director William Brooks calls the inauguration of the power plant expansion and the two new 11.3-mega watt engines as a triumph for the power plant's employees and the people of St. Maarten.

Island Council members, GEBE employees, and representatives of generator manufacturer Wärtsilä and the private sector were on hand to witness the inauguration and to hear Brooks say, "In the midst of the turmoil, the men and women at this power plant continued to do everything within their power to keep the lights on."

"The power plant expansion team continued to lay the foundation for the new engines. They worked, sometimes up to 16 hours a day, in dirty, hot and difficult circumstances, knowing that their work would bring a real solution to our capacity issues," Brooks said.

In expounding on the process to acquire the new engines, Brooks stressed that there is no place for short-term solutions in the energy industry. He said he had started his tenure at the company in 2007 and after initial review of the company and the pace of development in St. Maarten, had already foreseen a capacity shortage by 2009. He then explained, step by step, the process in terms of securing financing and ultimately acquiring and commissioning the engines.

"While celebrating this victory today, we are already thinking five years ahead. With the island continuing to develop, GEBE must as well. We have already reserved a spot for a third generator that we may need to order as early as 2011," Brooks said.

"We are working closely with the Island Government and specifically our Commissioner of Energy, Theo Heyliger, to finalise a new concession that strikes the best possible balance between serving our community and maintaining a financially feasible company.

"We will diversify our energy sources with the purchase of electricity from the waste-to-energy plant and renewable energy sources. And together we will continue to make GEBE more reliable, more cost-effective and more environmentally- friendly for our customers, today, and powering a brighter future for our next generation of customers tomorrow," he said.

Brooks also presented a NAf. 50,000 donation to Oranje School, which was adopted by the company some time back.

Lt. Governor Richards

Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards drew laughs from the crowd when he said GEBE should no longer be plagued by any more rats and cats interfering with the power supply. On a more serious note, however, Richards urged GEBE and government to work on what he considered three priority areas.

First, he advised GEBE and government to introduce a communication structure to facilitate the exchange of information between the two entities and to forge a better understanding. Second, considering the constitutional developments, he said the division of GEBE shares had to be addressed. Third, with the introduction of Dutch public entity status for St. Eustatius and Saba, the consumers on the islands need to be redefined.

Heyliger

Commissioner in charge of Energy Affairs Theo Heyliger, also provided a checklist of priorities that he would wish to be addressed by GEBE, in collaboration with the Island Government. In this regard, he was very direct in his remarks about GEBE's relationship with St. Eustatius and Saba, which will soon become public entities of the Netherlands.

"St. Maarten cannot continue to subsidise Saba and Statia in the new BES structure, and I was happy to hear that the Lt. Governor supports this also," Heyliger said, adding that a letter to this effect would be sent to BES Commissioner Henk Kamp next week. Kamp was also a guest at the event.

Heyliger also stressed that renewable energy must be part of GEBE's plan for the future and said the new tariff structure would be based on a business plan. In addition, GEBE's investments and the fuel clause will remain stable and the prices will be in keeping with the amount GEBE actually pays for fuel.

Heyliger also disclosed that GEBE plans to spend one million guilders on street lights for the island, and to sign a waste-to-power agreement with government through which an additional eight megawatts of electricity will be made available to the grid.

He also urged GEBE to set up a scholarship fund or programme so that some of St. Maarten's best and smartest individuals could further their studies in engineering.

GEBE's image, Heyliger said, is also something that has to be addressed. When power houses are constructed around the island, "they do not have to look like the power plant. They can have trees," he said, adding that water tanks and power houses could be made to look more environmentally appealing.

Heyliger also wants a fuel farm to be established to ensure that GEBE obtains the best prices on the market and is not dependent on outside sources. The continued upgrading of the generator fleet, clear policies on meter tampering and customer complaints, and taking over of the island's sewage company should be priorities. GEBE should commit resources for geo-thermal power and thereby decrease the island's dependence on fossil fuels.

Finally, he told Brooks and Supervisory Board of Directors Chairman Julius Lambert that he was looking forward to their forging a strong "marriage" and working together for the benefit of St. Maarten.

Julius Lambert

In his remarks, Lambert explained that the commissioning of the two new generators was the last of six units that were included in GEBE's 1999-2010 business plan. The first two generators went into production in 2001, the third and fourth in 2005, and now the last two. He explained that the highest priority had been given to the plans that had the biggest impact on the company and consumers.

In that light, Lambert said, the reduction of cost and subsequently consumer bills, improvement of reliability, employee morale and protection of the environment were all listed as priorities. With fuel being the largest cost for GEBE, he said it was logical to focus heavily on reducing fuel consumption.

It was a deliberate decision to purchase units that could operate on cheaper heavy fuel, he explained. This will translate into further reduction of cost for GEBE which can be passed on to the consumer on the monthly bills.