Duty Increase Offset By Reduction In Oil Costs
The impact on electricity costs for customers due to the duty increase on oil will be more than offset by the recent reduction in oil prices, the Government said.
“The recent drop in oil prices has reduced the electricity price to BELCO customers from a high of 44.9 cents per kilowatt hour to the current 37.9 cents per kwh – a decrease of 7 cents per Kwh,” a spokesperson said.
“This means that although the Budget being debated by Parliament will increase the duty on fuel as of April 1, the increase to customers will be offset by lower oil prices.
“The electricity utility has informed Government that if oil prices remain stable at the current low levels, residents can expect further decreases in BELCO’s Fuel Adjustment Rate [FAR], as older, more expensive oil is used up.”
Dr. Grant Gibbons the Minister for Economic Development has told Parliament that the impact on electricity costs for customers due to the government duty increase on oil will be more than offset by the recent reduction in oil prices.
The Minister said, “In response to concerns in the media about duty increases on fuel and higher electricity costs, I approached BELCO’s parent company CEO, Mr. Walt Higgins, to better understand the real impact on customers.
“There is no doubt that the Budget’s proposed five cents per litre increase in the fuel import duty will have the effect of increasing the fuel adjustment component of the electric bill.
“But in actual cost terms, this amounts to an increase of about 1.1 cents per Kwh, which is more than offset by the current 7 cents per Kwh reduction that BELCO customers are currently experiencing due to the drop in oil prices.”
When asked, BELCO said that they “agree with and support the Minister’s statement.”
And when the price of oil goes back up…?
So essentially, the average Bermudian is not going to benefit any from the world wide reduction in oil prices?
We are still going to get screwed.
Nope. You can thank the PLP for the massive bar bill they left us for this one.
Sure you are. The taxes would have had to go up anyway. The reduction in oil price just reduces the impact. It’s fortunate.
There is no possibility that Bermudians will escape having to pay back what the PLP borrowed. All the marches, strikes and sickouts won’t change that.
The oil prce reduction helps us a bit. Take it for what it’s worth.
So what about the other 1/3 of our debt borrowed by the OBA?
Amazing how the OBA’s contribution to our debt never gets mentioned
PLP’s 2/3 contribution in 14 years vs. OBA 1/3 contribution in 1 year (just over)
I hear you. I’m sure the OBA would have liked to balance the budget but there are people out there who are hell bent on making sure that doesn’t happen. Hence, more borrowing was required. You can thank the PLP for making the Civil Service as big as it is today and the reason why we need to borrow money to pay overpaid workers.
You need to go back to primary school to revise your fractions
Jus’ Askin,
Explain how you would have met the financial obligations left by the PLP without further borrowing.
And how will we pay back what the OBA borrowed.
And yes I will say it, if the UBP had a real interest in all Bermudians the PLP would not have had to do what they done.
Huh?
The UBP caused unsustainable spending, a 2000% rise in te deficit in less than a decade, hundreds of millions of so called overspends in jut about each and very capital project?
So the PLP bankrupted Bermuda for the people?
And if the UBP didn’t chase away all the tourists in favor of their rich IB friends we wouldn’t be in this mess now.
It wasn’t the UBP who danced on breakfast tables in hotel dining rooms , called tourists horrible names to their faces , made them carry their bags aver the Causeway and then made the cost of a Bermuda vacation out of reach with massive , beyond sustainability wage increases.
Twit
And if the UBP didn’t mess up an Education system that was working fine, in favour of the worst system in the world, we wouldn’t have the mess we have now.
Working fine?
If you research the 1998 news articles you will see the PLP dancing and raving about the state o our education and how only 50% of the student body attained average reading and writing skills. Check out the news archives to confirm.
It should also be noted that the PLP were part of the commission that came up with the new school system.
But yeah I know the PLP are an infallible party that shoul have to take no responsibility for any of our problems.
You’re just a as bad as the OBA supporters that see they do no wrong. Actually you are exactly the same as those people.
This looks like a setup!?
That may very well be the case… For now !
In other words, our overly priced electricity bills are gong to virtually remain the same and BELCO will continue to enjoy massive profits.
I guess this is part of our shared sacrifice.
NOT
And when the OPEC nations all agree to cut production and the price rockets back up? The only reason oil is so cheap right now is because they haven’t been able to agree on cutting production; the crude market is saturated producing these low prices.
That simple, eh? If OPEC cut supply then the US would just ramp up their domestic production because their margins would increase. See, it ain’t that simple, buddy. Even the head of OPEC said the days of $100 per barrel of oil are over. It is a shame that Bermuda won’t reap the rewards because the PLP put us in a massive hole of debt!
well….bless my butt…..we pay for fuel by the litre….four of those in a gallon at what ?…eight or nine dollars a gallon…..we soooo blessed…er …blast ….er blassed…..I’m not really sure what that is but….we certainly are a lot offit….
On the topic of Duty. Why doesn’t government reduce the allowance on individuals, say back to $100 per person when bringing in items from overseas at the airport? Surely this would increase revenue on import duty. This might also encourage residents to shop locally thereby potentially increasing business on the island, which might result in increased employment in the retail sector and so on.
We are not going to become solvent by taking the easy way out and taxing the people.
The country needs more irons in the fire.