To learn more about each of the key members of the PUC, please see their biographies below:

Former Key Players

E. George Moss - Chairman

Mrs. Georgette Dahl-Butler - Commissioner

Peter I. Bethel - Chairman

E. George Moss - Executive Director

Barrett A. Russell - Executive Director

E. George Moss

Chairman

Mr. E. George Moss, former Executive Director of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), was appointed Chairman of the Commission with effect from 1 July, 2005. Mr. Moss served as the first Executive Director from March 2000 to June 2005.

As Executive Director, Mr. Moss was responsible for the day-to-day administration of the affairs of the Commission and the provision of technical advice and guidance in the execution of the functions of the Commission. During his tenure, considerable improvements were made in utilities regulation particularly in the telecommunications sector. Consumers were afforded choices in their service providers in the areas of Internet and data services, customer premises equipment and certain telephone services. Consumers also saw a reduction in prices for most services. Much emphasis was also placed on the continuous training and development of the staff in regulatory matters.

Prior to his employment with the PUC, Mr. Moss was General Manager of the Water and Sewerage Corporation (W&SC) for 22 years. He is credited with developing the Corporation from a Department in the Ministry of Works into a well organized, vibrant water utility corporation. He also formulated and implemented three successful water industry development programmes valued at $110 million in consultation with the World Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank, the European Investment Bank and the Inter American Development Bank. As General Manager, Mr. Moss was responsible for a number of privatization projects including privatization of the Corporation’s shipping operations, the New Providence Reverse Osmosis Plant and the outsourcing of collections services.

Mr. Moss also served as Assistant General Manager of the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation, now BTC, from 1973-1977.

He holds a Master of Business Administration degree, from the School of Management, Cranfield Institute of Technology, England, 1976, a Master of Science degree from the University of Southampton, England 1969, and a diploma in Engineering from Mid-Essex Technical College, England, 1965.

Mr. Moss has participated in numerous conferences, seminars and workshops relating to the utility sector. Some of these include: the International Development Bank (IDB) Conference, “Competition, Policy in Infrastructure Service”, Washington, DC, April 2001; Office of Utility Regulators (OUR) Seminar on “Opportunities and Issues in the Implementation of the Telecommunications Act 2000”. “Telecommunications Policy, Regulation and Transition Management Programme” organized by Telecommunications Executive Management Institute of Canada, March 1998; and “ Privatization and Regulation of Utilities and Infrastructure”, Institute of Business, University of The West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago, July 1998.

Mr. Moss is a founding member of the Organization of Caribbean Utility Regulators which was established in July 2002 and was first Vice President of the Bahamas Institution of Professional Engineers from 1972-1974. He was awarded the Silver Jubilee Award, Commonwealth of The Bahamas, 1998 and the Distinguished Service Gold Award of the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association, 1996 for his contributions in the area of water supply development and management.

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Mrs. Georgette Dahl-Butler

Commissioner

Mrs. Georgette N. Dahl-Butler, Counsel and Attorney-at-Law, is the Managing Director of Trust Services at the Bank of Boston Trust Company, Nassau, Bahamas, a position she has held since January, 2001. She heads the Trust and Corporate Department where her main functions include training Private Bankers on Trust and Company matters, acting as support for the International Sales team and developing new products. She is also responsible for providing legal counsel support and directing the activities of the Trust department. She served as Vice President and Chief Fiduciary Officer at the Bank from August 2000 to 2001.

Mrs. Dahl-Butler has been in private practice from 1998-2000, where she focused on commercial law with particular emphasis on company restructuring, Trust and corporate management structures, compliance reviews and company incorporation. Additionally she was responsible for civil litigation matters.

Mrs. Dahl-Butler has been principally involved in areas of trust and corporate services and compliance since 1993, having worked at Credit Swiss Leu Trust and Banking (Bahamas) Ltd., from 1996-1998 and Citibank Cititrust (Bahamas) Limited from 1993-1996. She also worked as Mutual Funds Administrator for Fundservice Company Ltd., Nassau, Bahamas from 1992-1993.

Her work has taken her to major international cities of Europe, the United States and Latin America including: Zurich, Geneva, Luxembourg, Guernsey, London, Toronto, New York, Philadelphia and Guatemala. Mrs. Dahl-Butler has been a member of the Bahamian Bar for ten years, having been called in September 1993. She is a graduate of the University of Buckingham, Buckingham, England with the Bachelor of Laws Degree, with Honours, 1991 and the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics with Honours from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1987. She has completed the local Bastex training for NASDAQ Broker Series 7 Examination and is presently an External LLM Candidate for the Masters in Law of International Trade with the University of London at Holbourn College, Woverhampton, England.

Mrs. Dahl-Butler is a member of the Federation of International Women Attorneys, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, Risk Council and Senior KYC committees at Bank of Boston Trust Company.

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Peter Bethel

Chairman - 22/03/00 - 31/06/05

Mr. Peter I. Bethel, the highly regarded former General Manager of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation, served as the first Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) from 22 March, 2000 to 31 June, 2005. Mr. Bethel was appointed Chairman Designate in early 1999 and in this capacity provided advice to the Government on matters relating to the establishment of the PUC, particularly on telecommunications legislation and the telecommunications sector policy. He was also a member of a small coordinating group appointed to begin the preparations for the internal organization of the PUC.

During the five years spent in office, Mr. Bethel was instrumental in ensuring that consumers have choices in their service provider in several areas: Internet and data services, customer premises equipment and telephone services to a limited degree. Many more services became available to consumers throughout the Bahamas and developments were in progress to extend and improve the services in the Family Islands. Telecommunications links with the outside world were strengthened and prices for most services were lower than they had been before the PUC came into existence. With Mr. Bethel at the helm of the PUC at its establishment, a firm foundation was laid and the direction charted for the sustained growth and development of the PUC and the telecommunications sector.

A seasoned manager, Mr. Bethel is a graduate of The Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1957. He worked as an Engineer with the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Jamaica before returning to The Bahamas in 1961 to assume employment as a Commercial Engineer with the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC), the electrical utility serving most areas of The Bahamas. During the period 1967- 1977, he held various positions with the Corporation including Chief Electrical Engineer, Director of Planning, Assistant General Manager of Operations and Deputy General Manager. He was appointed to the post of General Manager in 1977, a position he held until his retirement in 1996.

Mr. Bethel also served on a number of Boards and Committees including the National Insurance Board, Council of the College of the Bahamas and President of the Bahamas Institution of Professional Engineers. He received the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Citizen Award, Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (CMG) from her Majesty the Queen, and the Silver Jubilee Award, Government of the Bahamas, for contributions to the Public Service.

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E. George Moss

Executive Director - 22/03/00 - 31/06/05

Mr. E. George Moss, the first Executive Director of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), held the position from 22 March, 2000 to 31 June, 2005. Prior to the appointment, Mr. Moss played a pivotal role in providing advice to the Government on matters relating to the establishment of the PUC particularly relating to the telecommunications legislation and sector policy. He was also a key member of the small coordinating group charged with responsibility for the internal organization of the PUC.

As Executive Director, Mr. Moss’ functions included responsibility for the day-to-day administration of the affairs of the Commission and the provision of technical advice and guidance in the execution of the functions of the Commission. Under Mr. Moss’ leadership, the mechanisms were put in place for the continued growth and development of the PUC, particularly in the area of telecommunications. Consumers now have wider choices in their service providers particularly in the areas of the Internet and data services, customer premises equipment, and telephone services. Telecommunications services were made available to more consumers throughout The Bahamas and prices for most services were lower than they were five years previously. Mr. Moss’s five years was also marked by continuous training and development and advanced training of PUC staff in regulatory matters. Mr. Moss was appointed Executive Director after having completed a distinguished career in the public sector, and having served as the first General Manager of the Water and Sewerage Corporation for twenty-three years. Prior to his tenure at the Corporation, Mr. Moss was as an Assistant General Manager at the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation (BATELCO) for five years, with executive responsibilities relating to engineering and planning, construction, operations and maintenance.

Mr. Moss, a senior professional engineer, joined the Water and Sewerage Corporation soon after its establishment in 1976 and developed it from a Government department in the then Ministry of Works into a dynamic and viable water and sewerage utility corporation. While at the Corporation, Mr. Moss pioneered the outsourcing of functions not directly related to the Corporation s core activities, for example, the privatisation of its shipping operation, and the collection services for outstanding water and sewerage accounts. Mr. Moss also organized the construction of the New Providence Reverse Osmosis Plant through private sector partnership on build-own-operate principles and implemented a number of large-scale development projects funded by the World Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Since 1998, Mr. Moss participated in several regulatory programmes relating specifically to his functions at the Public Utilities Commission. These included: Telecommunications Policy and Regulation at the Executive Management Institute of Canada; Privatisation and Regulation of Utilities at the University of the West Indies (Trinidad); World Bank Training Course on Utility Regulation and Strategy at the University of Florida, Gainesville; Regulatory Studies Programme at the Public Utilities Institute of the University of Michigan and several conferences of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

Mr. Moss participated in a number of conferences and seminars including the Management of State Owned Enterprises organized by the Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), St. John s Antigua; Regulation of the Water Sector, Adam Smith Institute, United Kingdom and the Water Industry Summit Privatisation Methods, Washington, DC, USA.

Mr. Moss holds a Diploma in Engineering from Mid-Essex Technical College, England, a Master of Science Degree from the University of Southampton, England, and a Master of Business Administration Degree from Cranfield University, England. Mr. Moss was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Gold Award, Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association, 1996, and the Silver Jubilee Award, Commonwealth of The Bahamas, 1998 for contributions to the Public Service. He also served as the founding First Vice-President of the Bahamas Institution of Professional Engineers from 1972-1974.

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Barrett A. Russell

Executive Director

Mr. Barrett Addison Russell was appointed Executive Director of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) effective 1 July, 2005.

Prior to Mr. Russell’s appointment, he was the President of BAR Com LTD, a startup telecom-consulting firm. He was also Chairman of Blue Telecommunications Group, a bidder for the privatization of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), from 2002-2004. Mr. Russell served as General Manager of the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation (Batelco) now Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) from 1991 until his secondment to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister as Consultant in 1994. He joined Batelco in 1968 and progressed through the ranks from Assistant Engineer to Staff Engineer and Deputy General Manager to General Manager, spanning a total of 26 years.

While at Batelco, Mr. Russell was involved with the upgrade and expansion of the communications systems, bringing Family Islands telecommunications systems up to the standards in New Providence and the introduction of Cellular in 1987.

Mr. Russell’s academic qualifications include the Master of Business Administration (MBA) Degree (regular) from the University of Miami in 1979, and a Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Surrey in 1968. His professional qualifications also include completion of the Effective Chief Executive Programme from the Irish Management Institute in 1993, the Program for Management Development from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration in 1984 and the Certified Diploma in Accounting and Finance from the Association of Certified Accountants (UK) in 1980. Work related technical programmes include The United States Telecommunications Training Institute Senior Level Policy Training Program at the University of Colorado, Inmarsat Regional Conference on Mobile Satellite Communication (Brazil), United Nations Workshop on Space Communication for Development (Cuba).

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