i have no problem paying more now, but make the fat cat bec employees pay for it too by reducing their ridiculously high benefits.

YOU may have no problem but there are many Bahamians living in homes with no electricity now because of the high power costs and taxes.

that might well be, but nothing is free. just like nhi.

austerity is required and expenses are required to fix the electricity.

the plp govt was acting like caligula.

Most of those Bahamians living without power can thank the PLP, who they likely voted for. Many of these issues Baha Mar BEC would not have reached this point under the FNM. The PM is finally talking about solarization! It may be the countries saving grace.

Stop this FNM- PLP bull shite. This is way beyond party and is the result of failure of governance on a national level- EVERY leader we have had, EVERY Government who have stepped to the plate have failed miserably. ALL our leaders had a desire to be loved rather than do what they needed to do in real terms to get this runaway train under control. Stop trying to pin blame on one party. We need to take responsibility for this mess as a country and move forward. Enough is flickin' enough.

> “These are difficult and hard times but the question is, do you want to pay it now to the company or pay it later through taxes? So, no matter how you look at it, the customer will still pay for it. You pay one way or another, this time you are paying directly and it is easier because this way you are paying for only the electricity you use and not for someone else’s."

Mr. Bannister does not seem to appreciate that blood cannot be had from a stone. Already there are way to many Bahamians who cannot afford to pay a light bill of any amount and no doubt many of them will not be disconnected for political reasons, as was the case with the previous corrupt Christie-led PLP government. And as for that so called huge 'legacy debt' that remains unpaid (about $500 million), we, the Bahamian people, in the interest of the transparency promised by Minnis, deserve to know just how much of that debt is owed to enterprises in which Sir Snake has a significant beneficial ownership stake.

We also need for Mr. Bannister to be much more forthright in disclosing to us (we, the people) just how in the hell does the government/BPL expect to make good on its commitment to fully supply Baha Mar with a reliable source of electricity before the end of 2017 without causing frequent and lengthy load shedding blackouts throughout New Providence Island for residential and commercial consumers alike?

Mudda, can you say whether BEC sold shares in BEC to Power Secure when the corporation changed its operating name to BPL?

The corrupt Christie-led PLP government supposedly gave PowerSecure (a U.S. enterprise) a management contract to operate what was left of BEC after the government had assumed direct responsibility for the repayment/refinancing/securitization of BEC's legacy debts totaling $500 million. For all intents and purposes, and notwithstanding all of the smoke and mirrors, the legacy debts have been transferred to honest hardworking Bahamian taxpayers and may as well now be considered part of our national debt (This of course benefitted Sir Snake greatly as he no longer has to worry about BEC being unable to repay the 'legacy debts' owed to him as these debts are now effectively owed by the government instead). Essentially two BECs were created - the operating one with all of the assets (aged power grid and rundown generating plants) and the non-operating one with all of the 'legacy debts' the old BEC could never repay. The operating BEC, under the management of PowerSecure, was then rebranded as BPL. To the best of my knowledge, PowerSecure does not have an ownership interest in the operating BEC that is now trading under the name BPL (Bahamas Power & Light).

You mean to tell me that significant 'legacy debts' for fuel owed by BEC to Sir Snake's fuel supply businesses were heaved on to the backs of already overburdened Bahamian taxpayers? Why should we, the people, be responsible for bailing out the super wealthy Sir Snake from losses relating to his own private business dealings with BEC. Something is definitely not right with this picture especially given that Sir Snake is always in the press touting how amazingly profitable his fuel supply businesses have been over the years and continue to be to this day. If Sir Snake's monopolistic fuel supply businesses are always making super profits it means our light bill fuel surcharge rates are too high and we are paying much more than we should at the gas pumps. Right now in most parts of Florida, gas is under $2 a gallon!

Thank you, just checking. The management fee must just have been another Bahama Give-Away. Your explanation was as I understood it, but still, something is not right (other than bills going up, surcharge going up, no removal of VAT, and service going further down) ....... If the dots lead to Chinese solar, how do the N.C. folk fit in?

The overriding reason BEC is in the state it is would have to be POLITICAL MEDDLING, If the nasty, corrupt, self serving politicians are taken out of the equation BEC may stand a chance!

*Re-post:* Slowly the dots are being connected on all of the solarization talk by Minnis. Red China is a major manufacturer and exporter of solar panels, solar power storage batteries and other solar related technologies. It seems a deal may have been struck by Minnis and the FNM party with Red China during the FNM's costly general election campaign for the solarization of the Bahamas, but at what great cost? Is a Solyundra in the works to make certain Bahamians filthy rich at the expense of honest hardworking taxpayers who will get stuck with the monstrous bill in the form of additional national debt. Stay tuned because something definitely does not smell good here.

The People better march!!!!!

Real funny Comrade DDK, The People going March led by the elite upper red chamber.

Comrade, marching is for anyone who feels inclined to stand up for the rights of The People!! Try it next time!

Comrade DDK, but is marching still in the legs and the hipbones of our newest upper red chamber senator? Him marched his ass off - before his political appt.

BPL has been on the job for two years now and they have yet to tell us how they plan to fix BEC and keep the lights on and bring the cost of electricity down. In facts new equipment should be in the pipe line and set to be up and running by years end. We done tired hearing about the broke down equipment that constantly fails. What are you doing about it BPL? Or was you just brought here to add to our misery level and suck up our money. At least when Leslie Miller was there you know when 'your as$ was gern sweat."

"Additionally, the BPL board of directors has appointed Jeff Wallace as the new CEO of BPL, effective immediately. Mr Wallace has more than 35 years of utility experience and over the past 10 years served as the vice president of fuel procurement for Southern Company, where he was responsible for managing $7 billion in fuel procurement, planning and delivery programs for 85 power plants.

“I look forward to meeting the team at BPL and working towards creating a world-class utility delivering highly-reliable, low-cost power to the Bahamian people and fostering a culture of excellence at BPL that allows our employees to grow professionally and contribute to a thriving workplace,” Wallace said."

There is something rotten about this Power Secure/BPL 'management agreement' and I don't think it's cheese.

Darnell Osborne is definitely **not** the right pick as Chairman of BPL! A seasoned business person should have received that appointment, not a light weight bean counter!!

Comrades! Our citizens are dropping dead under this Red Regime.

As I understand it the fuel surcharge is related to market oil prices yet even having gone through the lowest oil prices in recent history the surcharge never seemed to reduce. On that note the customs duty on many many items including food have gone down yet recently on Eleuthera we have seen ridiculous increases on the cost of food items and not by mere cents either. Unless we have inspectors going around the shops and ensuring that the savings are passed onto customers , then I am pretty sure that any customs reductions will only go to line the pockets of the local merchants.

The fuel surcharge is based on a formula that obviously has allowed Sir Snake's monopolistic fuel supply businesses to enjoy record profits year after year!

in view of vat, and vat on duty, reductions in custoMs duty DOES NOT translate in lower costs.

download the brochure from customs and see the example of importing a car.

the landed value is about the same as 85% duty on cif for 65% fob.

There is that, but there is also the fact the cost of goods F.O.B. U.S.A. continues to increase drastically due to runaway global mega greed.

TAL. How many people were murdered under the gold rush. Please respond in English so we can understand your response.

Bahamians need to take out a class action lawsuit against BPL/PowerSecure on this fuel surcharge rip-off ........ They would get at least 50,000 customers to support this case ..... Just go in and pay your BEC bill and not pay the surcharge until BPL cut off your account...... then you can sue their crooked asses ............... Has Bannister found the $1million BPL bizplan yet??

Bannister must be wigging out now. BPL / BEC need to tell THE PEOPLE who owes money to them and for what periods of time. I sure as hell don't want to be paying extra because Leslie Miller never paid anything. Marguerite Pindling and the Governmnet itself never paid their bills. Probably the lady at the airport in business with Marguerite, Publish a list of defaulters please.
Too much cover up going on.
Time to march again.

This is a huge Bahamian problem. Bannister is saying its tough luck but because they are broke we have to pay a fuel surcharge. Horse shit. Change the basic rate set in 1945 right after the war and use the fuel surcharge for exactly that. You people always lying about what something is.

Agreed ............... But BPL is broke because of Snake diesel monopoly

Wilson is a symptom of a bigger problem. Why have successive governments continued to use his services?

we've been screwed by successive incompetent government ownership of BEC for decades.. its badly run with crisis management and no forward planning.. there is no plausible reason for such crap service.. but management can only do what crap government allows and in this respect, both PLP and FNM have failed miserably.. what rubbish about overhead lines, cable fault, etc. as though we are the only country on earth like that..

exactly!

Would it have been too much to ask that such an increase be communicated to the public, via press releases, and TV coverage, before just dropping it into the May bill, and giving us this B/S story. In other words no matter what the problem and the costs incurred because of same, we the public will bear it, or be threatened with having blackouts. What a poor statement to come from a newly elected cabinet minister, who simultaneously should be advising the public of what steps the government is taking to replace our obsolete energy plants, produce more eco-friendly power, and exactly when we can expect the rates to fall to levels experienced in other countries. We do not need to hear about surveys, or requests for proposals. We had enough of that crap under the PLP. Make a decision to fix this problem of high costs and blackouts, and tell us what it is, and when it will be implemented. No more beating around the bush please Mr. Bannister, and since we are being charged more, keep the power on. Is that too much to ask? Or should we pay more for the same lousy service? If it wasn't a monopoly, you would lose all your customers.

JUST LET BAHAMIANS IMPORT SOLAR ELECTRICITY EQUIPMENT ........ CUSTOMS AND VAT TAX FREE ............. BEC WILL HAVE FEW PRIVATE DEPENDENT CUSTOMERS BY NEXT SUMMER ....... THEN DIVEST OF THE PUBLIC ENTITY AND LET IT BE A P-P-P LIKE ARAWAK CAY PORT WITH ATLANTIS, BAHAMAR & OTHER INDUSTRIAL ENTITIES

THIS BPL MESS DOES NOT REQUIRE ROCKET SCIENTISTS TO SOLVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DESMOND SEEMS TO HAVE ONIONS ........... HE HAS TO EXERCISE THOSE ONIONS

Many men sit at Arawak Cay boasting about their onions. One only learns the truth when those onions have to perform.

I know a Bahamian who has a condo in Miami. He goes back and forth from Nassau for his work and leaves his ac on the entire time to prevent mold, and keep things comfortable and stable I guess. You know what his bill was for last month? $47.00. Why is that? Not a drop of oil in Florida as far as I know. And guess what- not a single power outage. The failure to address the country's energy crisis has been the economic noose around this country's growth since 1973. Years of prosperity have gone down the toilet because of successive governments unwillingness to ACT. When it was revealed that that Ramsey man - concerned with others who were unnamed- sold the country out and approved substandard equipment for BEC - for a flickin kickback and that governments went ahead with BIG AZZ Bahamar WITHOUT any upgrades to the electrical grid- i just about threw in the towel. THAT is ignorance and ineptitude of Herculean levels. The situation we find ourselves in is because of PISS POOR leadership for decades and too much special and personal interests involved with BEC. Energy generation is the number one problem facing the Bahamas. NUMBER ONE- Nothing works without power. NOTHING. And we pay an incredible price - in wasted revenue, poor customer service, burnt up appliances, angry visitors, angry hot Bahamians with guns, health problems from stress and the inability to pay these rising electrical bills. ENOUGH IS FLICKIN ENOUGH. Minnis- If you want to really do something for this country - deal with this albatross on the country's economy and way of life. There are a hundred reports over the years sitting on shelves at BEC- and take it from me- they tell the story- read them yourself and make some gat dam decisions. Enough is enough. The money wasted as a result of expensive inconsistent energy generated could go elsewhere in the economy instead of the bottomless outside toilet that is BPL/BEC.

On a positive note .......... BPL stayed on for the Clifford Park festivities last night ........ Bravo!!!!!