In 2007, according to the Department of Statistics, construction projects worth $330 million were carried out in Bermuda. In 2008, at the very height of the construction boom, $457 million in work was carried out.In 2011, that number had shrunk to $133 million. In the first three months of this year, work worth $21 million was carried out; the second lowest quarterly figure recorded in the last six years.So it’s no surprise that there are great worries in the construction sector, as The Royal Gazette reported yesterday. And it’s worth noting that the majority of the money being spent on construction in 2011 went on just two, and possibly three projects; the new hospital, the Waterloo office building and the swimming pool at the National Sports Centre.After that, there is no major construction work planned in Bermuda. There’s talk about the city hotel at Par la Ville and the project at Morgan’s Point. And there is always the former Club Med in St George’s.But there has been so much talk about hotel projects and so little action in the last six or seven years, that belief will only occur when the first block is laid.No one can dispute that the Bermuda construction industry became badly overheated in 2007 and 2008. As Alex DeCouto, then president of the Construction Association, said: “Five years ago was the height of hubris, the very pinnacle of overconfidence and over-investment in infrastructure.”Now Bermuda faces the other extreme, in tourism and elsewhere, he says: “We have become so pessimistic that every investment decision is dead on arrival nowadays.”That is certainly true in the private sector. Because there is no confidence in the future, private businesses are not willing to invest and risk money when there is no prospect of a return. In the office sector, the decline in employment and the reduction in staffing by many international businesses means that there is gross oversupply, and that in turn means that no one will build.That leaves the public sector and the tourism sector to take up the slack. But confidence in prospects for tourism remains low, at least until Bermuda can become more competitive.And Government, having already borrowed more than many members of the public can stomach, does not have the means to do the kind of needed infrastructure work that helped to keep the Bermuda economy going in the admittedly milder recession of the early 1990s.There is one project that would do something to ease some of the problems. Belco would like to proceed with its North power station development, but has been refused the rate increase it needs to finance it. The increase was refused in order to ease the pressure on Belco customers.It’s worth noting that once the power station was built, Belco believes that the more efficient engines would result in fuel savings that would offset the rate increase, meaning that the customer would be paying no more, although those savings would not occur until the plant was built.But in the meantime, the construction of the plant would result in jobs for Bermudians, which would inject some much needed life into the economy while ensuring that Bermuda’s infrastructure is sustainable and attractive to investors and businesses. In the end, that puts money in everyone’s pockets. Perhaps the Price Commission should take a second look at this decision in the national interest.