by Larry Smith
In 2001 the government sold 80 per cent of the Jamaica Public Service Company to US-based Mirant, which began operations in 1982 as Southern Energy.
Mirant declared bankruptcy in 2005 and sold its Caribbean assets to a subsidiary of Marubeni Corporation of Japan in 2007.
In 1993 Mirant acquired 50 per cent of Grand Bahama Power Company and assumed management control. Three years later ICD Utilities, the other 50 per cent owner in Grand Bahama Power, offered 25 per cent of its shares to the public and 25 per cent to Mirant.
Last August, Marubeni completed the purchase of Mirant Caribbean Holdings, including 55 per cent of Grand Bahama Power Company.
The power generation company of Trinidad and Tobago (PowerGen) was established in 1994 as a joint venture created out of Amoco Business Development Company, Southern Electrical International, and the partial divestment of Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission.
PowerGen was formed to buy the generation assets of T&TEC, which retained a majority shareholding in PowerGen. PowerGen operates three major power generation plants.
The Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission began operations in 1946. While private firms have entered the generation sector as minority partners with PowerGen, the transmission and distribution sectors are still owned by the state through T&TEC.
T&TEC buys bulk electric power from independent generation companies for resale, and is also responsible for securing fuel supplies for the generation companies.
The Dominican Republic completed the sale of its electricity assets in 1999.
Other than Grand Bahama, the Bahamas Electricity Corporation is still the monopoly provider of power in most of the country.Morton Salt Co generates electricity on Inagua, and a local company generates power for Spanish Wells.
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