By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Opposition is set to "voice our concerns" to energy regulators after the Government suddenly unveiled a fuel charge rebate to dampen outcry over BPL bills that in some cases doubled month-on-month.

Michael Pintard, the Free National Movement (FNM) leader, confirmed to Tribune Business that his party will formally write to the Utilities Competition and Regulatory Authority (URCA) to determine if the Summer Energy Rebate initiative fully complies with electricity laws and regulations that require Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) to pass 100 percent of its fuel costs on to consumers.

He spoke out after the Davis administration, in what appeared to be a knee-jerk response to public outrage over such a steep and sudden hike in BPL bills, unveiled without warning an initiative designed to provide residential (household) consumers with a 5-6 percent discount on the state-owned electricity provider's July fuel charges.

The Summer Energy Rebate will lower BPL's fuel charge by 1.1 cents per kilowatt hour (KWh) for both portions of the bill - under and over 800 KWh. The fuel charge below 800 KWh will be lowered from the 18.5 cents that appeared in Bahamians' July bills to 17.4 cents, representing a 6 percent discount, while for over 800 KWh it is being lowered from 22.5 cents to 21.4 cents.

The move came after social media lit up in outrage as consumers received their bills due for payment in July. Almost all questioned the sharp month-over-month increases, with posts seen by Tribune Business showing all-in cost increases ranging from 38.6 percent to almost tripling via a 199 percent jump.

"BPL is doing toilet tissue math on these light bills," posted one person, whose bill had increased from $552.32 in June to $765.58 due for payment in July. "This is a copy of my bill from January to June. I have not changed anything in my house. This is outrageous."

Another added: "Bahamas Power & Light, y'all dumb, eh? I live in a house with three cats and no other humans. It's impossible for this to be my light bill. I travelled twice this month. How could my bill have gone from $374 to $612 (a 63.6 percent increase). Try hard, send this to its real owner and update mine to the proper figure. I ready to get so radical right now my heart racing at 3,000 miles per hour."

One responded: "If you think yours bad, check mine that literally tripled and I always tried to keep it under $200." Her bill has risen from $175.47 in June to $527.49 coming due for payment on July 11, representing a 199 percent increase." Yet another social media poster said his bill has jumped from $299.89 to $529.97 - a 76.7 percent increase.

The persistent BPL 'bashing' continued, with Bahamians describing the latest bills received on Monday night as "totally outrageous" and suggesting "definitely something wrong". Another confirmed: "This is ridiculous. Almost $600 for a two-bedroom apartment." Others added: "When they said it would be a 'New Day' they really meant new charges, new excuses and new levels of struggle."

The Davis administration, alive to the potential perils with a general election now only 15 months away at maximum, reacted quickly to unveil its Summer Rebate initiative. However, the savings from the fuel charge discounts appear relatively minimal at best.

Tribune Business, which has also seen its own bill double, calculated that the 1.1 cent per KWh reduction on the portion of its fuel charge above 800 KWh would have saved around $36.70 on its July bill, while the savings on the portion below 800 kilowatts would have been $8.70. This translates into just a $45.40 collective saving.

The Government's release did not explicitly explain why BPL's fuel charge has increased to what one insider, speaking on condition of anonymity, described as the highest level than can recall. However, the Government signalled that BPL is having to presently rely on automotive diesel oil (ADO), its most expensive fuel form, which observers have suggested indicates some if its more efficient engines may be offline.

"In response to record-high summer temperatures, increased electricity demand, global fuel price volatility and political instability, the Government of The Bahamas, through Bahamas Power & Light (BPL), is introducing a Summer Energy Rebate programme to bring immediate relief to consumers," the Davis administration said.

"This rebate is intended to help offset the elevated costs caused by increased summer usage and the temporary reliance on diesel — a more expensive fuel — to maintain consistent electricity supply." The release also indicated that the initiative was announced before approval was obtained from URCA.

"Recognising the importance of regulatory oversight, the Government has directed BPL to begin immediate engagement with the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) to ensure all aspects of the rebate and broader energy strategy meet regulatory standards and serve the public interest," the Davis administration said.

Mr Pintard, in a statement yesterday, said the BPL bill hikes required further explanation and questioned whether the Rebate initiative complies with electricity laws and regulations. He added that the extent of the increase in BPL's fuel charge, more than 30 percent since the end of 2024, far outstrips the movement in global oil prices. 

"As BPL customers around the country get their electricity bills this month, some are seeing their power bills double. Of course, most consumers understand that their electricity usage goes up in the summer months as they do their best to stay cool," the Opposition's leader asserted.

"But the Government has to explain why the base fuel surcharge rate has gone up more than 30 percent since the end of 2024 – much higher than the increase in global oil prices over that time. The spike in the surcharge cannot just be due to oil price increases.

"The minister responsible for BPL [Jobeth Coleby-Davis- must go on the record and confirm that BPL is not using any part of the surcharge to cover operating revenue losses from the 'lower rates' that had gone into effect. Not only would any such cross-subsidy be against the law, but it would also betray the customers to whom the minister and the Prime Minister promised relief."

Mr Pintard, noting that the Summer Energy Rebate was initiated in response to energy cost rises moving in the opposite direction to the Government's promises of cheaper, more reliable and cleaner energy, said: "The Opposition has written to URCA to voice our concerns on this matter, and to follow up on BPL’s failure to explain why surcharge proceeds it incurred expressly to cover fuel arrears debts were never used to cover the same."

Well-placed sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Government's move reawakens memories of what resulted from the Davis administration's decision to reject advice to execute further trades to purchase cut-price oil that were essential to supporting the fuel hedging strategy left in place by its predecessor.

It then worsened this by keeping BPL's fuel charge below-cost for a further 12 months, meaning that the utility failed to pass on 100 percent of this expense to consumers in their monthly bills. As a result, BPL incurred substantial arrears of at least $90m with Shell, its fuel supplier, and was forced to massively hike customer fuel charges over a 15-month period to recover these charges.

However, the Government's latest quarterly debt report, covering the three months to end-March 2025, shows it has yet to repay much of the loan it received from the Government - thought to be around $110m - to help cover the arrears owed to Shell. Some $170.3m was shown to be owing as at end-March 2025.

One observer questioned whether, as a result of the Summer Rebate, BPL will once again not be passing on 100 percent of its calculated fuel costs to residential consumers. If it is not, they suggested that arrears could build-up once again that will have to be covered by Bahamian taxpayer dollars. "They're all over the place, and you cannot run a utility this way," they said. "It's madness."

The Government sought to blame the situation on the Iran-Israel war, for which a ceasefire has just been announced, the global oil markets and summer heat. However, another contact argued that "URCA needs to weigh in on this" and assert whether the Summer Rebate is in compliance with the law and regulations.

They added: "The law says you cannot play with the price of fuel, and URCA's allowing this to happen and not reprimanding BPL." 

Tribune Business reported at the time that the BPL ‘glide path' initiative, to recover the fuel hedge expense, violated the law and accompanying regulations in at least two instances. In the run-up to the ‘glide path’s’ implementation, BPL seemingly breached regulations introduced in 2020 that mandated it pass 100 percent of incurred fuel costs on to consumers via fuel charge portion of their bill.

And, in the second instance, several sources suggested there was no legal or lawful basis for BPL to segment clients into two groups based on whether they consumed less or more than 800 kilowatt hours per month and charge them different fuel tariffs based on this. They explained that the law and regulations only allowed BPL to charge the same rate for all customers on the fuel charge portion of the bill.