By  ANNELIA NIXON

TRIBUNE Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

Bahamians yesterday responded with jokes and sarcasm to Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) plan to offer its $72,000 residential customers a one-time $8.45 rebate in their July bills, asserting that it will do little to relieve high energy costs or the misery caused by recent outages.

Speaking after the state-owned utility revealed it will return $610,000 in fines levied by the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) for events that occurred seven and eight years ago directly to customers, Karen Brown said she was stunned after receiving a July electricity bill approaching $800.

Arguing that this makes the rebate seem insignificant by comparison, she said: “That one is a stretch. “I probably need to get an electrician to come and look at my house and see if it’s wired properly with how much money BPL charges me.”

Ms Brown said she struggled to understand how the rebate had been calculated. “They sent me a bill for July for, I think, close to $800 and they only giving me $8 and something cents rebate?” she said.

While appreciative of the gesture, Ms Brown argued that customers need more assistance. “They need to add something else on to that,” she said. “That’s fine if that’s all the rebate works out to, but they need to add something else on to that to give Bahamian people a little relief.”

Ms Brown added that despite having a household of four, she could not explain why her electricity costs remained so high. “I don’t know why mine is so high, honestly,” she said. “I have four people in my household. It’s crazy. I think they need to add a little extra on to that. They can give us that rebate and then give us something else for August, too.”

George Robinson similarly questioned whether spreading the funds across all eligible customers was the best approach, suggesting the money would have made a greater impact if targeted towards lower-income households.

“I don’t think that would make a difference in their light bill,” he said. “They wouldn’t feel that.” Instead, Mr Robinson said the rebate should have been concentrated on vulnerable consumers.

“I prefer them to just distribute it among the less fortunate,” he said. “It would help them with their light bill. It’s a small saving. I don’t think it would make a difference in their financial situation because the $8, they’re not going to feel that.”

Mr Robinson compared the rebate to receiving a token discount at the gas pump. “That’s just like if they go to the gas station and they take off one cent for a gallon of gas,” he said. “That don’t mean nothing to the average person. I’d rather narrow that down for the people who really need it so they could really feel and see the effect of it.”

Mr Robinson said consumers would benefit more from lower electricity costs than one-time credits. “It’d be better if they brought the prices down, but I guess that’s not on the cards,” he added.

Another resident, speaking omn condition of anonymity, acknowledged that the rebate was a positive step but said it fell well short of addressing the financial losses many households suffered following recent power disruptions.

“I think it’s great that we’re doing the rebate, but the amount is kind of small considering so many people had lost food and everything like that,” the resident said. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, though.”

The resident questioned what practical difference the rebate would make amid rising living costs. “The rebate is actually nice, but it’s $8,” they said. “Come on, in this climate, what can you get for $8? All the prices in the food stores gone up, everything gone up.”

Rather than issuing small rebates, the resident suggested the money would have been better invested in improving the electricity network. “How about less power cuts?” they said. “Put the money towards fixing whatever’s wrong.”

BPL said the rebate represents the settlement of regulatory enforcement matters dating back several years, and stressed that the cost will be borne entirely by the utility rather than recovered from customers through future electricity rates. It said eligible customers do not need to apply for the credit, which will appear automatically under the ‘adjustment’ section of July bills, with all qualifying rebates expected to be issued by July 30.

The announcement also sparked widespread discussion on social media, where many Bahamians responded with sarcasm. While some users said they appreciated receiving any credit at all, many joked that the amount represented only a tiny fraction of their monthly electricity bills or was barely enough to purchase a fast-food meal.

BPL yesterday said the rebate, approved by URCA, forms part of a settlement over regulatory enforcement action stemming from the September 2018 Clifton Pier Power Station fire and prolonged power outages in New Providence during 2019.

The utility said eligible residential consumers in New Providence who had active electricity accounts in March 2026 will automatically receive the $8.45 credit. It follows an agreement between BPL and URCA under which the utility proposed returning the value of regulatory fines directly to consumers instead of paying the full amount to the regulator. URCA accepted the proposal as part of a negotiated settlement that resolved enforcement matters dating back several years.

URCA's investigations centred on the September 2018 fire at the Clifton Pier power station, subsequent widespread outages and BPL's performance during prolonged power interruptions in New Providence in 2019. The regulator had found the utility breached several licence obligations, including failing to provide information required under the Electricity Act and deficiencies related to maintenance, planning and service reliability.

BPL said the rebate will be treated as an unrecoverable expense borne solely by the company and "will not be passed on to consumers through tariffs, rates, future billing adjustments or any other consumer charge”.

The utility added that it will maintain records of the credits issued and submit a final report, certified by its internal auditor, to URCA for review and verification, while pledging to work with the regulator to ensure the rebate is applied accurately and consistently.