Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), Bradley Roberts, stoked the fire on a growing feud with the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC), claiming the company owes more than $100 million in overdue payments.

In a written statement,  Roberts also said the PLP "was reliably informed" that an oil tanker bringing fuel to BEC "refused to discharge its cargo" until a late payment was made.

The statement attacked leading government officials and the chairman of the BEC for "misleading statements" on the status for the company.

Michael Moss, the chairman of BEC, told Guardian Business that the PLP is "grasping at straws."

Although he acknowledged the company's debt was in the range of $100 million, he said, "as far as I'm aware, that is not due yet."

"I would say the total is around $100 million," he said.

"But as far as I'm aware, that's money not due yet. After receiving a delivery we have around 60 days to pay it. Our annual bill runs somewhere in the realm of $400 million.

So this $100 million represents around three months of fuel. BEC indebtedness to Shell is not a secret."

When asked if the current debt meant a few bills were past due, Moss said he didn't have access to that specific information.

But he assured consumers that Shell Dutch Oil, the oil and gas provider in question, has never made any threats to not deliver fuel.

In regards to the oil tanker that refused to delivery cargo, Moss explained this particular incident was "very ancient history".

"The Public Treasury paid $30 million to Shell, BEC's fuel supplier, on behalf of BEC during October 2009. No further payments have been made to Shell by the Public Treasury on behalf of BEC subsequent to that date."

Moss also wished to highlight that the recent spike in electricity costs, and the anticipated rise in the next month or so, has nothing to do with the $100 million debt at BEC.

He reasserted it has everything to do with high fuel costs overseas.

"That [the debt] is certainly not the reason for the increase. We have been far more indebted to Shell than we are today - it's a non issue," he said.

The PLP written statement also drew attention to the new power plant in Abaco that is "still not fully functional" despite BEC's considerable loans.

Roberts pointed out that Abaco was without electricity on Monday for more than five hours.

Moss told Guardian Business that the blackouts in Abaco were the result of "terrible weather and two instances of lightning strikes".

"It had nothing to do with the power supply at all," he added.

The BEC chairman felt the best way to protect from storms was to invest in underground systems, but because cooper has become so attractive to thieves, it makes that option vulnerable.

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