ES 05/2024 – Statement of Results and Next Steps – URCA Audit of the Performance and Organizational Maturity of Bahamas Power and Light

In this document, the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (“URCA”) issues its State-

ment of Results and Next Step with respect to the Performance and Maturity Audit (Efficiency

Audit) of Bahamas Power and Light Company Limited (BPL).

URCA engaged the services of a group of Consultants, Castalia Advisors and LCI Inc., to carry out

a performance and organizational maturity audit of BPL (the Audit). The objective of the Audit

was to establish baseline performance indicators and develop a regulatory roadmap for URCA to

monitor BPL’s performance.

The broad tasks included the following (to):

• Carry out a full and comprehensive assessment of BPL’s performance and the maturity of

its organization, systems, and processes.

• Develop an Excel-based tool to collect and process BPL’s technical, operational, and finan-

cial data for the performance audit. The tool will also allow URCA to calculate and track

indicators, monitor BPL’s performance and, as necessary, carry out its own audits of BPL’s

performance in the future. URCA will also be able to use this approach for assessing the

performance of other companies with Public Electricity Supplier Licences.

• Assess the factors in BPL’s external environment that may be affecting its ability to per-

form well.

• Recommend actions that BPL, URCA, and the Government could take to improve the per-

formance of BPL and the electricity sector in The Bahamas.

The Audit exercise and the draft final and Final reports was completed over a period spanning six

(6) months. The Audit commenced on 29 September 2023 with a kick-off meeting between

URCA’s team and the Consultants. The Final Report was concluded and submitted to URCA on 24

March 2024.

Castalia and LCI conducted an audit of BPL’s performance and maturity using various tools and

approaches. These included reviewing data and documents related to BPL and its sector, utilizing

an Excel-based diagnostic tool for scoring performance and maturity, administering self-assess-

ment surveys, conducting legal and regulatory reviews, analysing trends in key performance indi-

cators, benchmarking against similar utilities, and conducting interviews and focus groups with

BPL management and staff.

The audit findings report covers the methodology used despite limited data availability, analyses

external factors affecting BPL’s performance, assesses the impact of the regulatory framework,

evaluates BPL’s performance and maturity across five functions, and provides recommendations

for URCA to encourage BPL’s improvement while ensuring sector sustainability.

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