BEL Explains Causes Behind Spike in Electricity Bills

Belize Electricity Limited, BEL, says it has investigated recent complaints from customers who reported significant increases in their electricity bills and has identified several factors that may have contributed to higher-than-expected charges.  In recent weeks, social media has been flooded with posts from Belizeans questioning sharp increases in their monthly electricity bills, with some customers expressing concern that their consumption levels had not changed enough to justify the higher costs.  Today, BEL’s Executive Chairman, Lyn Young addressed those concerns, explaining that the company launched a review after receiving the complaints. According to Young, the investigation found that there was no single factor responsible for the increases. Instead, a combination of circumstances contributed to higher bills for some customers.  

Lynn Young, Executive Chairman, Belize Electricity Limited: “The heat is driving customer demand for AC units and refrigeration, etc. As a matter of fact last month we had a lot of problems with high bills and a lot of it, when we looked at it was driven by the heat. And there were some instances of billing inconsistencies. Like if you, if the meter reader normally bills you on a certain day and they were two or three days late in a hot month, then that drives up your bill and it’s not that you’re paying more, it’s just that it was a longer period that you got billed for and then there’s another little thing that affected the high bills is that you get exempted for if your bill is $100 or less you get GST exemption but if you jump $100 then you pay GST, right? So if you are somebody that pays $80 a month, $80 a month, you don’t get any GST and then the month that month was very hot and your bill jumped to $105 a month. In addition to the 25 extra, you’re also going to be paying GST now and $125. And you weren’t paying GST before. So your bill goes up by GST also, right? So we found a lot of that kind of thing happening.”

Young emphasized that BEL carefully examined the concerns raised by customers and found no evidence of widespread billing errors. She encouraged customers who remain concerned about their bills to contact BEL directly so that individual accounts can be reviewed.