Electricity bills at Bahamas Power and Light(BPL) have risen in some instances to 70 per cent, according to BPL Chairman Donavan Moxey.
In a recent exclusive interview with Eyewitness News, Moxey admitted that costs will continue to climb until the summer of 2019.
“The bills now have jumped significantly, my own personal bill has increased by 60 per cent, this past month has been fairly high, it’s probably been the highest it has ever been,” he said.
“And I understand that and I recognize that is because of the fuel that we are using and we are doing our best to shift the load back to Clifton but for the foreseeable future the bills will still be relatively high.”
Moxey blamed the rising cost on several fires at BPL’s Clifton Pier plant. That plant uses Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO), which is significantly cheaper than the Automotive Diesel Oil (ADO) being used at the Blue Hills Power Plant, which is currently producing most of the island’s electricity.
“What we are looking at right now is getting those assets back online. We are looking to replace the assets that were damaged in the fire and get them up and running. We are still waiting on the report from the insurance company, so we can see exactly what we can do,” he said.
“So our hope is that by summer 2019, we have shifted a lot of load back to Clifton. We understand customers are feeling the pinch and we are going to do whatever we can to make sure everyone understands that we are going to work with them.”
Moxey is encouraging Bahamians to continue to pay their bills or reach out to the company if they require assistance. Customers have not been so understanding of BPL’s issues and have taken to social media to voice their concerns. Moxey said the company is hoping to forge a new partnership with Shell Gas and Power to reduce electricity bills permanently, but customers will not begin to reap those benefits until 2020.
