Originally from the Journal of Damages in International Arbitration

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GRENADA PRIVATE POWER LIMITED AND WRD ENTERPRISES, INC. V. GRENADA ICSID CASE NO. ARB/17/13
AWARD, MARCH 19, 2020

The Parties 
Grenada Private Power Limited (“GPP”) and WRB Enterprises, Inc. (“WRB”) (the “Claimants”); Grenada (the “Respondent”) (together the “Parties”)

Sector 
Energy

Legal Instrument 
Contract

Members of the Tribunal 
Hon. Ian Binnie, C.C., Q.C. (President), Ms. Olufunke Adekoya SAN (Arbitrator), Mr. Richard Boulton, Q.C. (Arbitrator)

I.  BACKGROUND

In 1992, the Government of Grenada (“GOG” or the “Respondent”) was advised by the World Bank (among others) to privatize Grenada Electric Services Company Limited (“GRENLEC”), the sole electric utility in Grenada. The then party in power embraced the recommendation and in 1994, sold a controlling interest in GRENLEC to GPP, a Grenadian company indirectly held by WRB, a private company based in Tampa, Florida, USA. As part of the privatization, the Parties concluded a Share Purchase Agreement (“SPA”), which was made conditional on the GOG enacting a favorable regulatory structure, pursuant to which GRENLEC was granted an exclusive license for electricity production for a period of 80 years (the “GRENLEC License”).