BVIEC rolls out transparent billing format

The BVI Electricity Corporation (BVIEC) has introduced a new electricity bill format aimed at helping customers understand how their monthly charges are calculated and the impact of fuel prices on their total.

“The next bill that you get should have this format,” said BVIEC General Manager Neil Smith during a press briefing on Thursday.

“The more informed the customer is, the better for them.”

Under the revised billing system, customers will see a clearer breakdown of their electricity use, the base tariff rates, fuel surcharge, and the fuel subsidy that BVIEC covers on their behalf. It also shows the total fuel cost without the subsidy and how much the customer actually pays.

In a sample bill for a customer consuming 1,435 kilowatt hours, the new layout shows that without the subsidy, the fuel charge would be $271.90. However, with the BVIEC subsidy of $83.91, the customer pays only $187.99. The total bill remains $514.24 — unchanged from the previous format.

“The customer does not pay the full cost of fuel that it takes to produce the electricity that we sell,” Smith explained.

He added that the new format includes the average cost per gallon of fuel and how much BVIEC pays directly. “In this case, for example, it’s $2.64. BVIEC paid $0.815 on behalf of the customer, and the customer only pays $1.82 for fuel.”

Smith said the initiative reflects the board’s directive for BVIEC to operate as a “customer-centric organisation.” He explained that providing more information helps address frequent concerns about high electricity bills.

“We hear this almost every day — ‘my electricity bill is too high. I use the same electricity that I did last month, but it’s 20% higher this month.’ The reason why that happens is because the fuel — cost of fuel changes,” he said.

The breakdown now allows customers to see how those changes impact their bills directly. “You can compare what the price of fuel was last month to the price of fuel this month,” Smith said.

BVIEC’s fuel surcharge subsidy is set by law and dates back to the Electricity Corporation Ordinance of 1978. Smith confirmed the revised rate in 2000, lowering the subsidy from 98.5 cents to 81.5 cents per gallon.

The billing format change is part of broader efforts to modernise the utility. BVIEC also plans to roll out installations under its Solar Technology Energy Programme (STEP) in the coming months, which aims to reduce reliance on diesel fuel and transition to renewables.

The revised format will appear on all customer bills starting this month.