Bermuda Ranked As Highest 1/2 Electricity Rates

Depending on what chart you look at, Bermuda has been ranked as having either the highest, or second highest, electricity rates in the world.

During a recent international conference about energy, one of the speakers cited Bermuda as having the ‘highest residential electricity rates in the world,’ with Germany second, so we took a look for the study the speaker may have been citing, and found that at least two websites list the island has having either the highest, or second highest, electricity rates in the world.

The ElectricRate website ranks us second as of their February 2022 update, and said, “Germany and Bermuda hold the unpopular title of countries with the most expensive electricity for very different reasons.

“In Germany, a complex web of politically determined taxes, levies, and surcharges make up nearly half of the price that residential customers pay and as a result, German electricity prices more than doubled over the past twenty years.

“Bermuda must import most of its electricity in the form of cooking gas, car gasoline, and oil, making them susceptible to high import duties. As a tiny island of mere 21 square miles, any attempt at producing electricity at home results too expensive with no economies of scale possible.”

The Global Petrol Prices website ranked Bermuda as having the highest rates in the world, with their data current as of June 2021, and some of the other international listings do not include Bermuda at all, which can sometimes occur with worldwide data.

Bermuda —  which also tends to be cited as having one of the highest incomes per capita in the world and has to import most goods which many cite as contributing factors to our costs — has high prices for a number of goods and services, and has the dubious distinction of being listed in the Guinness World Records for having the highest cost of living.

Minister of Home Affairs Walter Roban has spoken of the need to “increase our uptake of renewable energy so that fuel costs can be reduced or eliminated. With more renewable energy comes less use of fossil fuel, which accounts for a good portion of every electric bill,” and BELCO President Wayne Caines has previously said that “BELCO has one primary objective – to supply our customers with safe, reliable and affordable electricity” and “our ultimate goal is to become a renewable energy company and we are working steadily towards that goal.”

In December 2021, Bermuda’s first Utility Scale Solar power facility, located on ‘The Finger’ at the airport — and pictured below — started producing energy.

At that time, the Government said, “At maximum solar production, the facility will provide up to 13% of the Islands energy needs to meet peak demand and is a testament to the work by the Government, dating back to 2008, to advance the country’s transition toward greater use of renewable energy.”

They said they will “continue laying the groundwork for additional investment in Bermuda to facilitate innovation and renewable energy technology developers” and are “working to partner with local and international companies to set up a Green Energy Fund to provide capital to deploy solar installations through the island” and “ultimately, these initiatives will reduce the cost of electricity for Bermuda’s residents and businesses.”

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