Column: Nesbitt On Energy, Bermuda & More
[Opinion column written by the FDM's Ricardo Nesbitt]
The Free Democratic Movement has been consistent on energy in Bermuda from the beginning. We have been clear that Bermuda needs a cleaner energy solution that is stable enough to run the grid and cost-effective enough to bring relief to families and businesses. We have also been clear that, based on current technology and the reality of an island grid, renewables alone are not able to carry the base load. That is why our policy has said LNG should be used as a bridge fuel, while renewables continue to play an important role in private, decentralized and distributed generation.
After years of pretending the island could rush headlong into targets that were never grounded in cost, grid stability or practical delivery, the Government is now talking about “affordability, reliability and equity”. After years of selling the public an 85% renewables-by-2035 vision, it is now pivoting and openly acknowledging the constraints of Bermuda’s isolated grid.
Once again, irony is that this is exactly the kind of realism the FDM has already put in writing. Our Energy and Environment Policy, published in February 2025, stated plainly that the North Power Station was designed for LNG, that LNG was identified as the least costly option in Bermuda’s IRP framework, and that LNG should provide Bermuda’s base-load energy while renewable energy plays a complementary role.
It is par for the course to see the Government arrive late to a position we have already put in writing. We now wait to see if it can make the big decisions that reduce the pollution, lower the cost of electricity, and deal honestly with the reality that fossil fuels are not disappearing tomorrow. The Government’s own draft now says renewable generation must be pursued within the limits of affordability and reliability, and it even records that earlier policy work identified LNG as the most cost-effective path for the North Power Station.
The FDM welcomes that overdue recognition. If the Government now accepts what it once resisted, then it should stop dancing around the issue and start implementing a practical transition that cuts soot, reduces fuel costs and gives Bermuda room to build renewable capacity sensibly over time. FDM is encouraged that this administration is following our lead; better late than never.
The purpose of energy policy is not to chase applause with targets that cannot stand up in the real world. It is to improve the material conditions of the people who live in Bermuda.
That same approach runs through our other work as well, in Education, Housing, Healthcare, Infrastructure, Environment and the Economy. The FDM is building policies meant to last, policies that stand the test of time because they are rooted in reality and aimed at improving life in Bermuda in a material way.
- Ricardo Nesbitt, Free Democratic Movement
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