The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Power and Light (BPL) Executive Chairman Christina Alston declined yesterday to say whether customers would receive rebates on their electricity bills following ongoing power outages, saying rebates are often not well received by the public.

Ms Alston's comments came after Prime Minister Philip Davis KC said last week that he had asked BPL to examine whether it could provide further financial relief to customers following last Wednesday night's island-wide disruption to homes and businesses across New Providence.

“If you are a consumer, and I say to you, ‘Well, I'm going to give you a rebate, and it's $45, or it's $100,” she said, adding that some people may still not be satisfied. “So, realising that we in the utility space, we're not going to please all the people all the time. We recognise that, and it's very easy to beat up on BPL, especially at this point where we're in a low. You know, we've had a lot of fires, we've had a lot of electrical outages due to lightning strikes.”

Ms Alston said she had not yet had a chance to speak with either the Prime Minister or the Energy Minister about the matter.

Pressed further on whether she believed consumers deserved a reduction in their bills after suffering numerous outages, Ms Alston described the question as “difficult.”

She added that around the world officials have seen that when consumers are given a rebate, the response has never been positive.

“But that's something for the PM and the ministry to address and to instruct, as we are their entity,” she said. “This is a company owned by the Bahamian people, and so when we receive those instructions, I'm sure that there'll be those who say, ‘well it's not enough’, and then there'll be those who may say, ‘well, thank you.”

Last week, Mr Davis said he had discussed whether consumers affected by repeated outages and high electricity bills could receive concessions from the utility.

"I've asked BPL to look at that, and they'll see what they can do," he said.