NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Free National Movement yesterday accused Prime Minister Philip Davis and Energy and Transport Minster JoBeth Coleby Davis of misleading the Bahamian people on what has been transpiring at Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) as it called on the utility’s regulator to confirm whether the government has applied the funds from the glide path to pay fuel cost arrears.
In a statement, the Free National Movement said: “Minister Coleby misled Parliament by stating that the massive $100 million plus loan that the taxpayers had to provide to BPL was due to the pandemic.
“That is simply false and easy to debunk. She clearly was not listening when the Prime Minister told the nation back in October 2022 that the spike in BPL fuel arrears came about because the Davis Administration took the conscious decision to “postpone the [fuel surcharge] increase” after oil prices spiked due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict that had started earlier that year. Even though, “according to the Prime Minister, there was a discussion at the time about increasing BPL monthly fuel charge”, the government put it off until they were forced to make the massive increases in fuel surcharges.
“It had nothing to do with the pandemic. It had everything to do with PLP mismanagement of BPL,” the statement read.
Coleby-Davis, replying to the FNM Michael Pintard’s BPL-related questions in Parliament on Wednesday, acknowledged that the interest rate and terms for a loan made around 12 months ago to help the energy provider cover its under-funded fuel bills are still being worked out.
“Madam Speaker, in response to the honorable member’s inquiry, I wish to make clear that BPL was granted a $110m loan by the government to address the under-recovery of fuel costs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The specifics of this loan, including the terms and interest rates, are in the process of being finalized. During the pandemic, BPL charged a reduced fuel cost rate to alleviate financial strain on our customers, absorbing the difference and deferring essential capital projects. Subsequently, through a ‘glide path’ fuel recovery strategy, we have been able to recover a significant portion of the under-recovered amount, allowing us to resume and fund critical infrastructure projects.”
The FNM further noted in its statement: “For his part, the Prime Minister continued to mislead the House of Assembly and the Bahamian people by again repeating the fiction that the $150 million arrears represented legacy debt The government’s own quarterly debt statistical bulletin for the period ending December 2023 shows that BPL’s unsecured debt rose from $45 million in 2021 to as high as $189 million in 2023, a sum that is uncoincidentally close to the $150 million in supposed legacy debt.
“As detailed in its own debt report, the Opposition maintains that the lion’s share of the $150 million debt taken on by the Davis administration represents BPL fuel arrears generated since they took office in September 2021; this happened because of the disastrous botching of the fuel hedge arrangement and the further poor judgment in not adjusting the fuel surcharge in the manner prescribed by law and regulation.”
According to the FNM, the government’s data shows that funds due to Shell for fuel remain unacceptably high.
“This is disturbing, especially since the government determined that they would raise the fuel pass-through rates to what the public believes to be unacceptably high levels. In response, URCA approved the glide path that enabled BPL to do so.
“At that time, the FNM registered our objection and asked URCA for a full account of the rationale for their decision. We now ask URCA to confirm whether or not they have been monitoring whether or not the government has applied the funds earned from the glide path to paying the fuel charge to Shell, and if they have not been doing so, has URCA made it clear that this dereliction of duty is a violation of the law.
“We now ask URCA to confirm whether or not they have been monitoring whether or not the government has applied the funds earned from the glide path to paying the fuel charge to Shell, and if they have not been doing so, have URCA made it clear that this dereliction of duty is a violation of the law.”
