The most recent occurrences involve the bankruptcy of OpenHydro, the proponent and majority investor in Cape Sharp Tidal, operator of the tidal turbine in Minas Channel. As soon as news of the Insolvency filings in Dublin courts on July 25th news started to surface many small businesses in the Parrsboro area where facing the possibility amounts owing to them would take a while ore they might never get paid. One operator who provided marine services for deployment of the turbine was owed over $150,000.

At first I read newspaper reports including The Irish Examiner, Dublin, Ireland, who broke the story in the July 26th edition providing an account of court activity. It was disturbing for the following reasons of how things of how things evolved in Nova Scotia, as follows:

During the week of July 20th, and previous, workers were staying at motels, cottages and rented homes in the Parrsboro. These workers needed to eat so they were dining at local restaurants, while putting the bill on the company’s tab.

The turbine was transported up the Bay of Fundy earlier in the week and was deployed at its berth on the FORCE site starting on July 22. Deployment was completed without mishap and it was connected to the electrical grid on Sunday, July 24th.

On July 26th Ann O’Louglin authored a story in the Irish Examiner stating Naval Energies, the largest shareholder and creditor of OpenHydro appeared before Ms. Justice Caroline Costello who appointed Michael McAteer and Stephen Tennant of Grant Thornton as joint provisional liquidators.

An excerpt from the Irish Examiner stated, "Ms. Justice Caroline Costello said she was satisfied to appoint Michael McAteer and Stephen Tennant of Grant Thornton as joint provisional liquidators to the Dublin based OpenHydro Group Ltd and its subsidiary Open Hydro Technologies Ltd after being told both companies were "seriously insolvent" with debts of approximately $280-Million".

The Irish Examiner further stated "that on top of what the parent had already invested in the Irish group it was projected that OpenHydro would make further losses of $128-Million between now and 2026.

My conjecture was that big companies and legal firms can’t move that fast and it was likely plans were "in the works" even while the turbine was being towed by a barge up the Bay of Fundy. If so, there could be legal implications for companies involved.

Emera has a 1+% investment in OpenHydro, and a further 20% in Cape Sharp Tidal, owner of the turbine. Emera also had a seat on OpenHydro’s Board of Directors and further involvement in Cape Sharp. Stacey Pineau, a spokesperson for Emera said their representative vacated his position on the Board of Directors in March.

An online search on August 1 revealed Open Hydro Naval Energies – Board of Directors listed Christian Richard as a Non-Executive Director. Christian Richard is Vice President, Special Projects at Emera Inc. where he is engaged in business development projects focused on providing cleaner affordable energy. Christian brings expertise in the energy sector and industrial operations, having held senior roles at an electric utility and an international forestry company. Christian holds an engineering degree from the University of New Brunswick and a MBA from l’Université de Moncton. (See link at: http://www.openhydro.com/company/board-of-directors.

Since Cape Sharp owned the turbine and had just announced successful deployment into Minas Channel, I sent the following email to Stacey Pineau, spokesperson on July 30^th as follows:

I have received several calls from local and provincial suppliers, including restaurants and accommodations in the Parrsboro area concerned about when they will receive payment for services provided during the recent deployment.

Do you know how many provincial and local service providers there are; how much is owned and when will they receive payment?

Here is her response received on July 31st:

At this time, Emera’s focus is ensuring that the receiver/liquidator has a plan for the continued environmental monitoring and safe operation of the Cape Sharp Tidal turbine that is currently deployed in the Bay of Fundy until they determine a final plan for it.

We understand that the receiver is actively taking steps to put a team in place to manage the Cape Sharp Tidal assets as soon as possible. We appreciate the difficult position this uncertainty puts many local businesses in and we are actively reinforcing the concerns of suppliers, partners and others involved in the project with the receiver. Thanks, Stacey.

To find out what activity was taking place to protect small business owners in Nova Scotia on August 2nd, I sent the following email to Steve Sanford at Department of Mines and Energy:

With the filing of OpenHydro for insolvency in the Irish courts there are a lot of unanswered questions and extreme concern from local suppliers, who are unsure if they will get paid.

• What is your department or other provincial government departments doing to with regards to this situation?
• Ensure a management plan in put in place quickly to provide management of the turbine?
• Ensure proper Environmental Monitoring plans are operational – as outlined in applying legislation?
• Ensure there is prompt payment to local suppliers, many of whom are small Parrsboro businesses – who provided accommodation, food services, and provided other services as required?

At least one supplier indicated there are received outstanding invoices for services for removal and /or the last deployment months ago.

It is a shame and ironic that two days after deployment, and one day after (Sunday, July 24th), when the turbine is reported to have been connected to the grid, OpenHydro’s major shareholder and largest creditor was in Irish Courts, on Monday, July 25^th, filing claims for Insolvency.

Do you have a listing of local suppliers who are unsure when or if they will be paid?

To his credit, on August 8th, Steve replied with: I have just realized this email failed to send. My apologies. Steve.

Here is the content of the reply email which did not get sent:

Hi Maurice,

These are great questions and we certainly share these concerns. Some we have answers, others we continue to monitor as this process progresses.

I’ve copied our communications director and will make every effort to have answers to these questions for you tomorrow; to the extent we can answer them.

Thank you for taking interest in this matter and looking to provide a balanced report for those impacted and or interested in this. Steve

Here’s part of my dilemma, and how the government department communications section don’t answer the question, but reply with a weak spin. The following reply was received on Friday, August 10th:

Thanks for your questions, Maurice.

Contingency plans are the responsibility of the companies that own the turbine, and Stacy Pineau at Emera can provide more information. The Department of Energy and Mines’ role is to verify that the turbine is in compliance with its license. This situation cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely and we will continue to watch this process closely.

With regard to businesses impacted by this situation, this remains a corporate issue. It is up to the private companies that own the turbine to settle these business matters. We know that Emera has asked the receiver (Grant Thornton) to consider payments to businesses owed as this insolvency process progresses.

The department does not have a list of local businesses that are impacted. That information would be part of the insolvency process.

Hope this helps with your story,

Here are some of my problems:

It seems there was very little concern within the public service about the blight of small rural business owners, who are now owed money for a project so heavily promoted by government.

• Why are large foreign multi-nationals permitted to operate in the province without posting security bonds – against environmental damage, or "stiffing" small businesses because they don’t want to pay or activities in bankruptcy courts, thousands of miles away?
• When something goes wrong why do larger companies, including Emera and government personnel seem to run and hide, don’t accept responsibility, or fail to show an urgency or compassion for the problems being face by much smaller Nova Scotia family owned businesses?
• What should government be doing to protect small businesses?
• Do you feel government doing enough to protect small business from future instances?
• What do you think should be done?

The coverage area of The Shoreline Journal and South Cumberland News is full of small family owned businesses. Helping to protect them is my priority. I want to help address your concerns, but I can’t and don’t feel comfortable doing it alone. I seek your input.

Please send your thoughts – for or against. E-mail: maurice@theshorelinejournal.com