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BHS | Oct 4, 2022

Bahamian Government approves BPL request for increase in electricity fees

Mikala Johnson

Mikala Johnson / Our Today

Reading Time: 2 minutes
Prime Minister of The Bahamas Phillip Davis.

The Bahamian government this morning announced that there will be an increase in monthly electricity bills in that nation this quarter.

The announcement was made by Prime Minister Philip Davis during a press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister.

“This morning I want to speak on an important development which is being announced by the Bahamas Power and Light Company (BPL). Today BPL is announcing an increase in the monthly fuel charge,” Davis disclosed.

The increase is not a general one that applies across the board. Instead, it will be billed according to the amount of electricity consumed by customers.

“For a large majority of BPL customers who consume less than 800kwh, fuel charge is being increased by two cents per kilowatt hour, which will result in an increase this quarter of less than $20 per month. If your current monthly bill is a $182 or less, you fall in this category. For those who consume 800kwh the increase will be 4.3 cents per kilo watt hour,” the prime minister revealed.

The Bahamas Power and Light Company headquarters in Nassau.

Davis said the BPL would provide additional details of these changes which will phase in overtime, noting also that the bottom line is that monthly bills will go up over the next several quarters before they come down in 12 to 18 months.

“I know these short-term increases are unwelcome news and I know these increases are coming at a time when many families are already struggling, as you know all too well our country has for several years been in a very serious economic and fiscal crisis we’ve come a long way over the last year,” Davis stated.

He continued: “We have started our recovery in a meaningful way, a lot more Bahamians are working, we are reducing the nation’s debt burden and we have stabilise our finances but there is still a long way to go.”

The prime minister, in his address, said the increase could no longer be avoided and came at the right time of the year.

“Introducing the increase at this time of the year coincides with lower electricity consumption as opposed to the increase coming during the spring and summer months when people consume more electricity.

“During this period, the government decided to provide support for BPL operations for an interim period but unfortunately, we can’t postpone the increase any longer. Now that we have passed summer and moving into a period of lower electricity usage the government has approved BPL’s request for this phase in increase,” Davis shared.

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