Electricity Bills to Rise as New Monthly Power Adjustment Takes Effect

Electricity bills will increase for most Belize Electricity Limited customers this month following the introduction of a new monthly Cost of Power Adjustment also referred to as COPA.  The Public Utilities Commission (BEL) has approved an additional charge of one-point-five cents for every kilowatt-hour of electricity used this month. The adjustment will appear as a separate item on customers’ bills and will not attract General Sales Tax.  In practical terms, a household using one hundred kilowatt-hours will pay an additional one dollar and fifty cents. A customer using two hundred kilowatt-hours will pay three dollars more, while three hundred kilowatt-hours would result in an increase of four dollars and fifty cents.  BEL says the actual cost of purchasing electricity over the past six months was four-point-three cents per kilowatt-hour higher than the amount previously approved by the PUC. However, the regulator has limited the August increase to one-point-five cents to avoid passing the full difference on to consumers at once.  The adjustment is being introduced under what the PUC calls a “regulatory sandbox.” In simple terms, it is a trial system that allows the regulator to review BEL’s actual cost of purchasing power each month before deciding whether customers should pay more, pay less, receive a rebate or see no adjustment.  BEL will be required to submit verified financial and operational information to the PUC every month. Any adjustment must receive the regulator’s approval and cannot exceed one-point-five cents per kilowatt-hour above or below the approved reference cost of power.  Customers enrolled in BEL’s Social Rate programme will not have to pay the adjustment.  BEL says the mechanism is needed to help the company cover changing power-purchasing costs and maintain a reliable electricity supply. For consumers, however, it means bills may now change from month to month depending on energy costs and the PUC’s assessment.  The August adjustment is the first to be applied under the new framework.