Subsidy the only remedy for rising electrical costs — Premier
A subsidy provided by the government may be the only likely respite for skyrocketing electrical costs coming out of the local power provider in the territory, Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has indicated.
But the Premier has put to bed the idea of a subsidy, for the time being, suggesting that it is not an affordable expense for the government at this point.
Rising electricity costs, as evidenced by BVI Electricity Corporation (BVIEC) bills, have seen residents taking to various social media platforms to protest and demand relief and intervention on the part of the government, but these cries have so far gone unheeded.
“Well, the charges you’re seeing on your electricity bill are directly related to the cost of oil and the world market,” Premier Wheatley said at a recent press conference.
He added that the conflict in Ukraine and Russia has driven the prices of oil way up to heartbreaking levels, including for residents in the Virgin Islands.
“All that you can do, is subsidise the cost. That’s really all that you can do. And of course, I’m having discussions with the Ministry of Finance – the Acting Financial Secretary and others – about what can be done,” the Premier expressed.
Premier Wheatley noted, however, that he could not say that any conclusions have been arrived at so far, especially since “things are pretty tight in the Virgin Islands right now” from a fiscal standpoint.
He advised that government officials are continuing to explore options to provide some level of relief to the public, and assured that he would report on the issue within the next month.
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MW’s of batteries and solar. Install within 90 days.
No I can’t accept this explanation. Before the war in Ukraine our electricity bills were inflated. It is because the government have continued to allow a monopoly in this area and there is no motivation or drive to produce energy more efficiently. There is no desire or drive to negotiate down costs or purchase equipment that will ultimately bring costs down for residents…. Their attitude is just to pass on all costs and not actually work for the population. That is how we have gotten into this mess.
The electricity is generated by the government owned Electricity Corporation. From diesel supplied mostly by the company owned and run by relatives and cronies of the members of the government.
To protect their nice little earner they banned solar, and even generators.
And you wonder why electricity is expensive?
Cut NHI, (it’s useless)and subsidies using a fraction of what is paid to nhi. The people will have a break from NHI tax while at the same time a little relief from high electricity.
What about Solar??? Why do we not allow private citizens and companies more accessible policies to invest in renewable energy.
It will save the government money, save private residents money, and it will help the BVI become green!!!
BVIEC greedy and don’t care about the average consumer. Go straight solar with batteries.
What about renewable energy?
@Solution, Are you stupid?
This is a non story. No conclusion at all except how they are going to explore options and report next month. Yeah, what options? Tax the air so they can, reduce electricity bills. These boys want to find revenue, not give relief. Meanwhile, all they know how to do is spend big bucks on advisors to to the Government Ministers, who if they knew what they were doing would not need the same advisors. Or if the Civil Service knew what they were doing the same advisors would be totally unnecessary. Wait, wait, so in any case these hugely paid “advisors” are not necessary at all but made up non tendered jobs, sucking more tax payer dollars in to the Ministers family and friends.
but how come it keep rising every month
@hmmmm same thing I saying every month your bill going up high
I have a refrigerator, microwave, 2 fans and only 2 lights working in my apartment. I put energy saving bulbs, 2 phone charger and 2 computer chargers and I am paying over $150. per month.
Is this f**king guy serious? So let the place go to s**t because Government cannot be bothered right now? No real attempt to ease the burden on individuals and businesses?
Why is the only things this muppet says never a solution?
What about making sure BVIEC does not make random errors in bills? What about making sure the government sets good contracts with suppliers? What about renewable energy sources?
No, no, not Natalio. He doesn’t do solutions.
BVIEC makes it up as they go because govt is their largest customer and biggest defaulter, dig deeper!! Govt currently owes BVIEC over 8mil so imagine what kind of breaks BVIEC could give if they got their money.
Mr. Wheatley, that is a whole bunch of political talk and NO solution to rhe people’s hurt. I’m presently out of the country for the past 3 months with only a refrigerator plugged in and for 2months ( may and June) is $238. This is crazy!
If Government was to cut the duty on fuel and ensure that this was passed on to customers, that would help in the short term.
Here’s conspiracy for you all to ponder:
Central banks are hiding the truth about what is driving inflation and how bad it is going to get. They want you to believe that what is happening is a result of government stimulus in response to the pandemic. Total nonsense. Look up quantitative easing. Look up the Fed balance sheet. That 8.9 trillion dollars worth of assets that they purchased to prop up the economy in the years following the 2008 crisis dwarfs the stimulus.
Every dollar that sits on central bank balance sheets is money that was created out of thin air and injected into the system. This is what created the inflation we are seeing now. Raising interest rates can’t bring it down. That would only work if the inflation was caused by excessive lending, but it wasn’t, and they know that it wasn’t. The only way to prevent Venezuela style hyperinflation at this point would be to remove 8.9 trillion dollars from the U.S. economy and approximately the same amount from the EU economy.
This would obviously have catastrophic consequences and draw attention to their insane monetary experiment, so instead they are playing dumb. They acknowledge that raising interest rates will likely cause a deep recession, but what no one seems to be talking about is what happens to interest payments on government debt as these rates climb. With the U.S. national debt sitting at 30 trillion, the prospect of a full fledged default isn’t just likely, it’s inevitable. When the U.S. government defaults, the global financial system will grind to a halt (as will international supply chains). Most people can’t even imagine the implications.
This cannot be fixed. That’s why they cooked up the “Great Reset”. Don’t let them get away with it.
Still no confirmation on how much millions the government really owe BVI electricity. If it’s free for the government, it should be free for the people too.
Is free for some . People run cable over one quarter mile on the ground without meter since after erma. Must work for bvi electric.
Pay for people to turn in property’s getting power without being on a meter.
To much unnecessary driving in bviec with all those new trucks.most of them needs to be park up when the employees is not working.Then they want to pass on the cost on us.
What about running a more efficient power generation systrem? Energy policy anyone? How about subsidizing solar instead?
@DUTY CUT. ask if they pay duty on fuel in the first place. then bviec have a bunch of BIGS working in their main office that only want to see the residents with no electricity if they owe 20.00 on their bills. the first word from them is cut it off. the office staff needs to be investigated. they don’t have the right attitude for the position they holding. they are killing the residents in virgin gorda. it seems like vg residents are not apart of the bvi.
Let’s be honest, BVIEC, run by cronies and corrupt to the core. Investigate inspectors past and present with their own electrical contracting companies. Surely this is a conflict of interest and will not take much investigating.
Ok. Utterly simpleminded and baseless response. A 6 year old school child could have done a better investigation and analysis of this issue. It is clear the Premier just wants his paycheck so is more concerned about the government remaining in place than he is about real issues. I would like to high light the following
THE STATEMENT ABOUT THE MASSIVE HIKE IN THE BILLS BEING DUE TO HIGHER FUEL PRICES IS TOTAL BS !!!
1. THE FUEL SURCHARGE went up only minimally. This is insufficient to double peoples bills.
2. Unfortunately almost all the commentors on this thread didnt identify the REAL ISSUE. WHICH IS….the usage pattern and meter readings. My usage went from just over 400 to 1100 for the same number of days. Now, that is impossible. simply because humans sleep 8hrs and work 8hrs. Sp it means that in the remaining 8 hrs rhe entire BVI doublea their usage.
THE ISSUE IS A HUMAN ERROR IN READING PEOPLES ELECTRICITY USAGE !!!! DO NOT MIX TTHIS UP. People talking all kinda shite about solar. Solar my a$$. Explain to us how these fcuking geniuses at BVIEC doubled and tripled peoples power usage !!! The fuel price did not raise your bill. People PLEASE CHECK THIS. Especially locals because they dont care about us expats but when you the voting people make noise they listen ! PREMIER EXPLAIN TO THE PEOPLE HOW THE BVIEC OVET THE LAST 30 DAYS HAVE EXPERIENCED BVI RESIDENTS DOUBLING THEIR POWER USAGE !!!! IT is an abvious error or attempts by BVIEC TO ROB THE PERSONS ON THE GRID !!!
THE ISSUE IS NOT THE FUEL PRICE !!
GOVERNOR. WHERE ARE YOU. WE DEMAND RECOURSE NOW !!!
I agree, when I saw my bill yesterday, my knees got weak one time. Imagine I had to check my balance on the bank and come again to examine why a 72$ a month bill has now been almost 300$ it beholds me that I have such a demand On the necessary things to life for such a high price. I drove to the supermarket got a cold thing drove home got a nice shower and went to bed and just dream about the UK.
Everything seems to have a rising cost and the blame game of war has been to usher in the sentiment that s the reason, some people just repeat what others has said without researching the reason why. Help!