Rymer announces bill credits as electricity costs soar
Communications and Works Minister Kye Rymer has announced that the government will provide electricity bill credits and extend its fuel subsidy as residents and businesses grapple with sharply higher energy costs.
Rymer said the credit would reduce the amount customers must pay on their August bills, while the government would apply a subsidy directly to bills issued in September.
“I can confirm today that the government will apply a credit to your current electricity bills, the August bills, and we will also be providing a subsidy to the September bills,” Rymer stated during a press conference yesterday.
The minister explained that the BVI Electricity Corporation (BVIEC) had already issued the August bills and could not withdraw them. BVIEC will instead apply the credit to customers’ accounts.
“So even though your bill says $100, when you come to pay, you might only have to pay $80,” BVIEC General Manager Dr Neil Smith stated.
Rymer advised customers to confirm the credit with BVIEC before paying their bills because the corporation must process the adjustments manually. The government and BVIEC have not yet disclosed the value of the credit or the formula that will determine each customer’s relief.
The intervention follows a three-month emergency programme under which the government provided $1 million monthly for March, April and May. The programme cost $3 million and reduced the fuel surcharge passed on to customers.
Rymer attributed the latest increases to the cost of fuel purchased in July rather than higher electricity tariffs or an increase in BVIEC’s base rates.
“July was the most expensive fuel month in the history of BVIEC,” Rymer stated.
BVIEC previously said the July fuel-price spike followed the end of the government subsidy in May. The final relief under that programme appeared on bills issued in June. The corporation also said a separately approved adjustment, which removes the full fuel subsidy on monthly consumption above 1,500 kilowatt-hours, did not cause the August increases. That change is expected to affect 919 of BVIEC’s 17,068 customers.
Rymer said the government would review fuel prices and provide further assistance where necessary, but maintained that repeatedly subsidising imported diesel was not sustainable.
He identified the Solar Technology Energy Programme as the longer-term response. Under the programme, the government pays half the estimated $10,000 cost of a standard residential grid-tied solar system. Customers can repay the remaining $5,000 through savings on their electricity bills.
Smith said bills for some customers already participating in the programme had fallen by more than 50 per cent.
“Our approach today is two-pronged. First, immediate relief through credits and subsidies to ease the pain of those unprecedented global fuel prices. Second, an accelerated investment in solar and renewable energy,” Rymer stated.
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I think part of the problem is how the subsidy was handled. Government was putting $1 million per month into electricity relief for three months, so consumers were partly shielded from how serious the increase in fuel costs really was. Then the relief ended and people suddenly felt the full impact at once. BVIEC has said fuel prices had risen sharply, including a 55% jump in one month earlier this year, so the underlying pressure was already there.
A better approach would have been to gradually reduce the government subsidy each month instead of cutting it off suddenly. That would have allowed households to see their bills increasing little by little and start adjusting their consumption before being hit with a major increase.
The reality is that the world is dealing with conflict and higher fuel costs. When gas and diesel go up at the pump, I adjust by driving less. Electricity should be treated the same way. Maybe we cannot have the A/C and fans running all day, TVs and PS5s constantly on, and water heaters running unnecessarily and expect our consumption habits to remain unchanged while energy costs rise.
It is like moving a fish into water at a different temperature—you gradually acclimatize it instead of shocking it all at once. Government should have gradually reduced the subsidy, allowing consumers to acclimatize to the true cost of electricity and adjust their usage accordingly, rather than shielding everyone for three months and then suddenly exposing them to the full increase.
Positive news get crickets it seems
Good initiative. Took too long tho. Anyone with sense could of seen this coming. Solar should of been here long time. Wind turbines too