Phillip Brave Davis

By Rashad Rolle, Tribune Staff Reporter

DEPUTY Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis credited PowerSecure yesterday for reductions in local electricity prices, saying “dramatic” improvements are already being reaped in the country.

Mr. Davis was asked if Bahamas Power & Light (BPL), formerly the Bahamas Electricity Corporation, has given the government its long-awaited business plan.

He said yes, but it is unclear whether the plan will be released to the public.

“(Electricity services) has already dramatically improved,” he said. “Check your bill. Compare it to May 2012; there has been across the board improvements. Our promise is to ensure a lower cost of electricity from May 2012.”

Last year Mr. Davis said after PowerSecure’s management deal was finalised, Bahamians could expect a 40 per cent reduction in electricity costs “immediately.”

Yesterday he said there has so far already been a “more than 40 per cent reduction” compared to May 2012.

“These are the things that are readily available,” he said. “Look at your bill in May 2012 and look at it now. Look at how many times your light has turned off in the same period and compare it to now.”

During a signing of a five-year management services agreement for BPL in February, Prime Minister Perry Christie also said he was “hopeful that the signing would reduce the cost for electricity for consumers in a significant way.”

Nonetheless, it is not clear if BPL, which only recently released its business plan to the government, has had a role in the reduction of electricity costs.

“They have not done anything about that,” FNM Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest countered yesterday in response to Mr Davis’ statement.

“The cost of oil worldwide is down and they are benefiting from that. Tell them to show if the base price has been reduced. It hasn’t.”

Indeed, experts say falling oil prices is behind lower electricity costs.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Bahamas’ oil import bill was expected to be slashed in half in 2015 because of the decline in global oil prices, saving the country about $240-$250 million.

The IMF said at the time that the Bahamas should take advantage of this “breathing space” to complete restructuring plans for the state owned power provider and to embrace renewable energy sources.

However experts expect the fall in global oil prices to be temporary.

Paul Maynard, president of the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union (BEWU), acknowledged this in an interview with The Tribune yesterday, saying he expects PowerSecure to create lower energy prices by switching the Bahamas from its reliance on oil to “propane and natural gas.”

“I am hoping that it happens within this year, by the end of it,” Mr. Maynard said when contacted. “The transition won’t cost that much but they will have to make temporary provisions while decommissioning the plants that we have now while they build new ones.”

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