Sark stays switched on

Friday 30 November 2018

Tiny Sark has narrowly avoided an electrical shutdown after the island’s government struck a deal in the early hours of this morning.

Sark's electricity provider had threatened to switch off power generators at midnight tonight, arguing that it was being driven to bankruptcy by charging limits placed on it by the government, which is known as Chief Pleas.

It was feared that a solution could take months to materialise, and that Sark could be left in the dark until Easter while the government carried out due diligence on a potential purchase of the company.

Contingency plans were put in place as a result, with large power generators brought to the island, and medication refrigerated.

But overnight a deal was between the head of Sark Electricity, David Gordon-Brown, and Chief Pleas. 

Pictured: Mr Gordon-Brown in Sark's power station.

Mr Gordon-Brown has now agreed to keep the power on, with Chief Pleas agreeing he can go back to selling the power at the price he used to, before the price control was brought in. However, this is only a temporary fix while due diligence is done to enable Chief Pleas to buy Sark Electricity.

With the deadline for switching the power off fast approaching, negotiations had been continuing right up until today, with talks ending at 01:00 this morning leading to a happier conclusion than many had foreseen.

The Seigneur was earlier quoted as saying that a deal was reached so Chief Pleas would buy Sark Electricity Ltd once due diligence had been done and that the power would stay on while that process is carried out.

Mr Gordon-Brown initially said he was asleep at 01:00 and he had no comment to make, but he has since released a statement via his website.

Pictured: Sark's power station.

It reads: "We are pleased to announce that an agreement was reached late last evening following which there will be no disconnection of the electricity supply this evening Friday 30 November.

Mr Gordon-Brown said the deal means that the commissioner's order (to cut electricity prices) has been "quashed and we are back to the original price, and we are going to hold it at that price for the next three months while we do a deal to let them value the company. After that, it belongs to them."

He said SEL is not going to back-date customer's bills to compensate the company for the losses its incurred as "it would be a pain for the customer and at this time of year would just mean extra bills."

While the deal is in place from now on, Mr Gordon-Brown said there is quite a bit still to do before Chief Pleas actually buys SEL. 

"The intention is for Chief Pleas to take over ownership, I don't know exactly what they are going to do that's up to them - I have recommendations for them but they will make their own decisions. 

"I will keep working for three months and they want me to stay on to make sure the handover works so I'll do that too. 

"I believe people in Sark will be happy with this, there was some resistance to the idea that Chief Pleas should own the company but I think we should at least see how they are going to do it before we make our minds up."

Mr Gordon-Brown said he has been involved with SEL since 1969, and has worked for the company full time since he returned to Sark 12 years ago. He is now happy with the situation going forward.

"I'm very glad we have got it sorted it anyway. I'm glad Chief Pleas are happy. I came back here to run the company not to shut it down."

Deputy Gavin St Pier, Guernsey's most senior politician, has since commented: “With the reputation of the Bailiwick at stake, whilst Guernsey was well prepared to assist if needed, it is clearly in everyone’s interests, particularly Sark’s residents, that an agreement has been reached which averts a shutdown of the island’s power station.

"I would like to thank the very many people behind the scenes from Guernsey and Sark who have worked exceptionally hard and well together, particularly in the last few weeks. We will continue to monitor the situation closely to mitigate the risk of the situation re-emerging.”

Follow Express' reporter in Sark for updates…