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Contingencies | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2015
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block] | 8. Contingencies Retail License The Company sells water through its retail operations under a license issued in July 1990 by the Cayman Islands government that grants Cayman Water the exclusive right to provide potable water to customers within its licensed service area. As discussed below, this license was set to expire in July 2010 but has since been extended while negotiations for a new license take place. Pursuant to the license, Cayman Water has the exclusive right to produce potable water and distribute it by pipeline to its licensed service area which consists of two of the three most populated areas of Grand Cayman, the Seven Mile Beach and West Bay areas. For the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, the Company generated approximately 41% and 37%, respectively, of its consolidated revenues and 56% and 55%, respectively, of its consolidated gross profits from the retail water operations conducted pursuant to Cayman Water’s exclusive license. As discussed later herein, if Cayman Water is not in default of any of its terms, this license provides Cayman Water with the right to renew the license on terms that are no less favorable than those that the government offers to any third party. Under the license, Cayman Water pays a royalty to the government of 7.5% of its gross retail water sales revenues (excluding energy adjustments). The selling prices of water sold to customers are determined by the license and vary depending upon the type and location of the customer and the monthly volume of water purchased. The license provides for an automatic adjustment for inflation or deflation on an annual basis, subject to temporary limited exceptions, and an automatic adjustment for the cost of electricity on a monthly basis. The Water Authority-Cayman (“WAC”), on behalf of the government, reviews and confirms the calculations of the price adjustments for inflation and electricity costs. If Cayman Water wants to adjust its prices for any reason other than inflation or electricity costs, it must request prior approval of the Cabinet of the Cayman Islands government. Disputes regarding price adjustments are referred to arbitration. The license was scheduled to expire in July 2010 but has been extended several times by the Cayman Islands government in order to provide the parties with additional time to negotiate the terms of a new license agreement. The most recent extension of the license expires on June 30, 2015. In February 2011, the Water (Production and Supply) Law, 2011 and the Water Authority (Amendment) Law, 2011 (the “New Laws”) were published and are now in full force and effect. Under the New Laws, the WAC will issue any new license, and such new license could include a rate of return on invested capital model, as discussed in the following paragraph. The Company has been advised in correspondence from the Cayman Islands government and the WAC that: (i) the WAC is now the principal negotiator, and not the Cayman Islands government, in these license negotiations, and (ii) the WAC has determined that a rate of return on invested capital model (“RCAM”) for the retail license is in the best interest of the public and Cayman Water’s customers. RCAM is the rate model currently utilized in the electricity transmission and distribution license granted by the Cayman Islands government to the Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. The Company advised the Cayman Islands government that it disagreed with its position on these two issues. In July 2012, in an effort to resolve several issues relating to its retail license renewal negotiations, the Company filed an Application for Leave to Apply for Judicial Review (the “Application”) with the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands (the “Court”), seeking declarations that: (i) certain provisions of the Water Authority (Amendment) Law, 2011 and the Water (Production and Supply) Law, 2011, appear to be incompatible and a determination as to how those provisions should be interpreted, (ii) the WAC’s roles as the principal license negotiator, statutory regulator and the Company’s competitor put the WAC in a position of hopeless conflict, and (iii) the WAC’s decision to replace the rate structure under the Company’s current exclusive license with RCAM was predetermined and unreasonable. In October 2012 the Company was notified that the Court agreed to consider the issues raised in the Application. Throughout the course of the license renewal negotiations, the Company objected to the use of RCAM on the basis that it believes such a model would not promote the efficient operation of its water utility and could ultimately increase water rates to Cayman Water’s customers. The hearing for this judicial review was held on April 1, 2014. Prior to the commencement of the hearing, the parties agreed that the Court should solely be concerned with the interpretation of the statutory provisions. As part of this agreement, the WAC agreed to consider our submissions on the RCAM model and/or alternative models of pricing. In June 2014, the Court determined that: (i) the renewal of the 1990 License does not require a public bidding process; and (ii) the WAC is the proper entity to negotiate with the Company for the renewal of the 1990 License. The Company’s submissions on the RCAM model and/or alternative models of pricing were made to the WAC on June 9, 2014. The Company received a letter from the WAC dated September 11, 2014, which fully rejected the Company’s submissions and stated that they intend to provide the Company with a draft RCAM license in due course. On November 21, 2014, the Company wrote to the Minister of Works offering to recommence license negotiations on the basis of the RCAM model subject to certain conditions which are: (i) the Government would undertake to amend the current water legislation to provide for an independent regulator and a fair and balanced regulatory regime more consistent with that provided under the electrical utility regulatory regime, (ii) the Government and the Company would mutually appoint an independent referee and chairman of the negotiations, (iii) the Company’s new license would provide exclusivity for the production and provision of all piped water, both potable and non-potable, within its Cayman Islands license area, (iv) the Government would allow the Company to submit its counter proposal to the WAC’s June 2010 RCAM license draft, and (v) the principle of subsidization of residential customer rates by commercial customer rates would continue under a new license. On March 23 2015, the Company received a letter from the Minister of Works with the following responses to the Company’s November 21, 2014 letter: (1) while the Cayman government plans to create a new public utilities commission, the provision of the new retail license will not depend upon the formation of such a commission; (2) any consideration regarding inclusion of the exclusive right to sell non-potable water within the area covered by the retail license will not take place until after the draft license has proceeded through the review process of the negotiations; (3) rather than allow the Company to submit its counter proposal to the WAC’s June 2010 RCAM license draft, the WAC will draft the license with the understanding that the Company will be allowed to propose amendments thereto; and (4) the principle of subsidization of residential customer rates by commercial customer rates would continue under a new license, assuming no minimum volume charge. The Company is presently waiting for the WAC to provide its current draft of the license and to propose dates on which the negotiation process may recommence. The Cayman Islands government could ultimately offer a third party a license to service some or all of Cayman Water’s present service area. However, as set forth in the 1990 license, “the Governor hereby agrees that upon the expiry of the term of this Licence or any extension thereof, he will not grant a licence or franchise to any other person or company for the processing, distribution, sale and supply of water within the Licence Area without having first offered such a licence or franchise to the Company on terms no less favourable than the terms offered to such other person or company.” The terms of any new license agreement offered by the Cayman government may not be as favorable to the Company as the terms under which Cayman Water is presently operating. The resolution of these license negotiations could result in a material reduction of the operating income and cash flows the Company has historically generated from its retail license and could require the Company to record an impairment charge to reduce the $3,499,037 carrying value of its goodwill. Such impairment charge could have a material adverse impact on the Company’s results of operations. The Company is presently unable to determine what impact the resolution of this matter will have on its financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. CW-Belize By Statutory Instrument No. 81 of 2009, the Minister of Public Utilities of the government of Belize published an order, the Public Utility Provider Class Declaration Order, 2009 (the “Order”), which as of May 1, 2009 designated CW-Belize as a public utility provider under the laws of Belize. With this designation, the Public Utilities Commission of Belize (the “PUC”) has the authority to set the rates charged by CW-Belize and to otherwise regulate its activities. On November 1, 2010, CW-Belize received a formal complaint from the PUC alleging that CW-Belize was operating without a license under the terms of the Water Industry Act. CW-Belize applied for this license in December 2010. On July 29, 2011, the PUC issued the San Pedro Public Water Supply Quality and Security Complaint Order (the “Second Order”) which among other things requires that (i) CW-Belize and its customer jointly make a submission to the responsible Minister requesting that the area surrounding CW-Belize’s seawater abstraction wells be designated a forest reserve or national park and be designated a Controlled Area under section 58 of the Water Industry Act, (ii) CW-Belize submit an operations manual for CW-Belize’s desalination plant to the PUC for approval, (iii) CW-Belize and its customer modify the water supply agreement between the parties to (a) include new water quality parameters included in the Order and (b) cap the current exclusive water supply arrangement in the agreement at a maximum of 450,000 gallons per day, (iv) CW-Belize keep a minimum number of replacement seawater RO membranes in stock at all times and (v) CW-Belize take possession of and reimburse the PUC for certain equipment which the PUC purchased from a third-party in late 2010. CW-Belize has applied for declaratory judgment and has been granted a temporary injunction to stay the enforcement of the Second Order by the PUC until such time as the Belize courts could hear the matter. The initial hearing on this matter was conducted on October 30 and 31, 2012 with an additional hearing on November 29, 2012. The ruling on this case is pending. The Company is presently unable to determine what impact the Order and the Second Order will have on its results of operations, financial position or cash flows. Windsor Plant Water Supply Agreement CW-Bahamas provides bulk water to the Water and Sewerage Corporation of The Bahamas (“WSC”), which distributes the water through its own pipeline system to residential, commercial and tourist properties on the Island of New Providence. Pursuant to a water supply agreement, CW-Bahamas was required to provide the WSC with at least 16.8 million gallons per week of potable water from the Windsor plant, and the WSC had contracted to purchase at least that amount on a take-or-pay basis. This water supply agreement was scheduled to expire when CW-Bahamas delivered the total amount of water required under the agreement in July 2013, but has been extended on a month-to-month basis. At the conclusion of the agreement, the WSC has the option to:
| ⋅ | extend the agreement for an additional five years at a rate to be negotiated;
| ⋅ | exercise a right of first refusal to purchase any materials, equipment and facilities that CW-Bahamas intends to remove from the Windsor plant site, and negotiate a purchase price with CW-Bahamas; or
| ⋅ | require CW-Bahamas to remove all materials, equipment and facilities from the site.
At the request of the government of The Bahamas, CW-Bahamas continues to operate and maintain the Windsor plant on a month-to-month basis to provide the government of The Bahamas with additional time to decide whether or not it will extend CW-Bahamas’ water supply agreement for the Windsor plant on a long-term basis. CW-Bahamas generated approximately $1.5 million and $1.7 million in revenues from the operation of this plant during the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively. North Sound Plant Water Supply Agreement OC-Cayman’s bulk water supply agreement with the WAC for the WAC’s North Sound plant expired on April 1, 2015. OC-Cayman submitted a proposal to continue to operate the plant for an additional 24 months on March 23, 2015. This proposal was tentatively accepted on March 27, 2015, subject to certain additional government approvals. OC-Cayman continues to operate the plant under the same terms and conditions of the expired agreement. OC-Cayman generated approximately $726,000 and $994,000 in revenues from the operation of this plant during the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

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