Comments on: BELCO ‘Extremely Pleased’ By RA’s Order

By: hmm

hmm — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 16:50:35 +0000

Not necessarily. The solar panel owners are not paying for ANY of the transmission/distribution costs.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 10:28:41 +0000

I agree. The current FIT in Bermuda is a joke. For example, in Italy, the cost of energy is €0.20 and the FIT is €0.18. RA, do you see the inequality in Bermuda? Please help the Bermudian people more, RA! Lots of work ahead of you.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 10:23:08 +0000

If it is just a “blip” then the RA should seriously consider paying customers a more realistic FIT. If BELCO considers it so nominal, perhaps the RA should increase the rate from $0.17 to $0.40. The $0.17 is a joke, especially when BELCO is earning $0.23 per kWh from those customers producing it by way of selling it to others.

By: legalgal

legalgal — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 07:48:15 +0000

More importantly how much are you saving by using your own? And with outlay, what does it cost you? Solar has to be the future. Friend in UK had gas company investigating them as they thought they were fiddling with their smart meter. If they can run a 5 bed house, plus ac in summer on their grade of sunshine surely Bermuda should make it a huge cost saver?

By: Ride

Ride — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 00:16:30 +0000

Are there any statistics on renewable energy being fed into the grid? Would be good to verify the claim that the this is nominal. BELCO surely has this information.

Also, it is my understanding that fuel surcharge is legally based on consumption not fuel burnt to keep the engines warm. This is concerning if my understanding proves correct and your statement proves true.

If BELCO foots the bill to keep the engines warm then it has less profits due to its regulated status. So its investors will put pressure on it to be more fuel efficient. Which might have led to battery banks or some other methods of reducing fuel much earlier.

BELCO should be more transparent. Many still have a bad taste from the fiasco of BELCO giving out years of fat dividends while placing little money aside to refurbish its engines. Then trying to hit us all with a whopping overnight increase to pay for engines because it had no money.

By: 6mbs

6mbs — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 23:46:14 +0000

Too bad we can’t make up our own BS fees and facility charges and charge it to Belco like they do to us. $0.17 per kwh would be a deal being that we are charged $0.15 kWh (up to 250kwhs) but then all the fees and consumption over 250 kWh sends the final kWh price up to $0.42 which is close to the highest in the world for developed countries.

By: 6mbs

6mbs — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 23:39:42 +0000

I think the amount of ‘free’ energy Belco receives from customer generation is just a blip compared to what Belco generates itself. The decrease in fuel surcharge wouldn’t be worth the extra keystrokes on the accountants keyboard.

By: Jadon

Jadon — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 23:10:53 +0000

I have solar….. for the energy I feed into the grid I get .17 cents per kilowatt. I buy it for .42 cents per kilowatt from Belco. It’s bull**** and the RA need to change the amount selling for to the amount buying for kilowatt for kilowatt. Any solar produces over that I would be happy if they buy for .17 cents.

By: Burnt

Burnt — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 23:10:10 +0000

The solar input is minimal in comparison to the entire country and the fuel is still being sucked up in spinning reserve. Belco’s battery storage system that will be installing will eliminate spinning reserve.

By: Shaquan

Shaquan — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 22:30:32 +0000

The RA is useless

By: Justin

Justin — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 22:29:34 +0000

Now focus on outages in Smiths!!!!!

By: Ride

Ride — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 22:28:33 +0000

General question:

People/Businesses are feeding electricity into the grid from renewable sources. BELCO sells this energy to customers. Note that BELCO did not burn fuel in its generators to make this energy.

Therefore, shouldn’t consumers notice some decrease in the fuel surcharge item of thier bill proportional to the amount of renewable energy being fed into the grid?

If this is not the case then aren’t we being charged a fuel surcharge for fuel that has not been consumed?

Enquiry minds would like to know.

Ride

By: 235

235 — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 20:48:10 +0000

Of course Belco is happy
They should be paying much more for a feed in tariff. The RA should do more to stimulate Solar generation in Bermuda.