Minister Walter Roban On Electricity Tariff Cuts
“We are pleased that the Regulatory Authority has today assisted in the delivery of one aspect of our agenda; driving down the cost of electricity via the slashing of Electricity Retail Tariffs,” Minister of Home Affairs Walter Roban said.
The Minister’s comments follow after the Regulatory Authority of Bermuda announced that “effective January 1, 2020, retail tariffs for Bermuda’s electricity sector will decrease across customer groups.”
“The retail tariff is a component of a monthly BELCO bill that is reflected as a ‘Charge’. It is the rate at which electricity per kilowatt hour is sold to consumers,” an RA spokesperson said.
Minister Walter Roban said, “As a government elected with a mandate to improve the quality of Bermudian’s lives and to drive down the cost of living, we are pleased that the Regulatory Authority has today assisted in the delivery of one aspect of our agenda; driving down the cost of electricity via the slashing of Electricity Retail Tariffs.
“From day one, the Government has refused to support a raise of BELCO retail rates and sought ways to drive power costs down. Now, relief is on the way.
“This Tariff Cut will pass on savings to each of us and means that Bermudian families and Bermudian businesses will pay out less of our hard earned dollars on our monthly electricity bill. This means more money in Bermudian’s pockets and offers a measure of relief to our business sector.
“This modest relief is in line with what we were elected to do and represents a small step forward in our mission to ease the burden on Bermudians, reduce the cost of doing business in Bermuda and in helping to drive down the high cost of living in our country.”
We have asked the various official entities for more information on what the projected savings to consumers will be, and will update if able.
what is the saving? why doesn’t the minister say?
LMAO!!!!! ROTFL!!!!
They didn’t assist in one element of your agenda, they did it. The PLP didn’t do anything!! The independent authority did!
PLP can’t lower anything themselves other than our confidence in them. All they’ve done is increase and invent costs and taxes. So how about PLP actually ticks their own box and lower the cost?!
Now, put dollars and cents on it. What is the “slashed” amount?!! Are we saving a bag of groceries, a pack of gum or a bag of M&M’s (that are more expensive bc PLP’s sugar tax)?
He says it is a modest cut – what is it???!!!
Wow, he says electricity rates are being ‘slashed’. How much are our bills going down? 40%? 50%?
“This modest relief…”
Great. Unfortunately, the PLP’s increase in all taxes and Government fees in the last budget wipes out any form of savings that this ‘modest relief’ will bring. As an example my land tax bill went up 30% in the last billing cycle. And lets not even start on the sugar tax effects on local food prices.
You guys have a looooong way to go if you want to live up to your platform promise of reducing the cost of living.
Before you start patting each other on the back, let’s see what our January bills look like. Remember consumption goes down in the winter months and the August/September bills will be the kicker!
“Minister Walter Roban said, “As a government elected with a mandate to improve the quality of Bermudian’s lives and to drive down the cost of living, we are pleased that the Regulatory Authority has today assisted in the delivery of one aspect of our agenda; driving down the cost of electricity via the slashing of Electricity Retail Tariffs.”
That makes it sound like the RA is now an arm of the Government and not an independent regulator. I hope that is not the case.
LMAOOOO….by what $2 on my bill. GTFOH…Belco do what they want and the PLP had no part to play in this!
What’s to stop BELCO from increasing their other surcharges?
First he says he says “driving down the cost of electricity via the slashing of Electricity Retail Tariffs”
Then he says “This modest relief …”
Which is it?
Don’t get too excited. It’s 2%. That’s what ‘slashing’ the cost means. Apparently.
More hot air from one of the biggest windbags. Precisely what did the PLP have to do with this? The base rate for power is a very small portion of the bill. They get you with all of the surcharges for this & that.
25-11. As long as you can keep fooling the 25 that is all that matters.
It’s about $2 on a $200 monthly bill. We need a bit more relief than that! The only way to go is to produce your own energy and store it. Solar + batteries which you can now bring in yourself and have a certified electrician do the installation. Grid defection is coming faster than we know it! It would be more useful for the RA to design new incentives for those investing in renewable energy and help those who can least afford it.