Prime Minister, the Hon. Philip Davis, K.C. held a press conference along with executives of Bahamas Power and Light to announce the increase in fuel tariffs for consumers.
In his comments on the issue the Prime Minister confirmed that the government had agreed to a hike in the fuel surcharge which will increase the monthly bills of many. Davis said, “in February the Russian-Ukrainian war began, disrupting global trade and raising oil and gas prices sharply. There was discussions at that time about increasing BPL’s monthly fuel charge. We made the decision to postpone the increase and keep your charge low as long as possible. Our economy is growing, adding new jobs every month and I wanted to see more Bahamians working before we ask families to pay a higher light bill. When times are tough coming up with an extra twenty dollars a month is no small thing.”
The Prime Minister acknowledged that residents are facing economic challenges and said that BPL’s rise in fees can no longer be postponed. Davis said, “the bottom line is that monthly bills will go up over the next several quarters before they begin to come down in twelve to eighteen months. Introducing the increase at this time of the year coincides with lower electricity consumption as opposed to the increase coming during the spring and summer months when people consume more electricity.”
It was also announced that the VAT ceiling on electricity bills will be increased from $300 to $400 which means that bills under that amount will incur no VAT charges.
