A “suggestion” by the Minister of Home Affairs that the Regulatory Authority cuts the price of electricity cannot be legally enforced, it has been claimed.

Two lawyers have also argued that Walter Roban cannot dictate specific policy decisions to the RA, which is an independent body separate from government.

In another blow to Mr Roban’s efforts to have this month’s hike in electricity prices scaled back, he came under fire from former finance minister Curtis Dickinson for questioning the competence of the authority and making public a letter he sent to the chairman of its board of commissioners.

On Wednesday, Mr Roban threatened to take legal action against the RA after it rejected his suggestion that it order electricity supplier Belco to reduce its Fuel Adjustment Rate.

Belco raised the rate at the beginning of this month after getting approval from the RA. The increase will increase electricity bills by about 20 per cent.

Mr Roban said: “I suggested to the RA a possible option for their consideration which would bring some relief for a period of time following the increase of the FAR. I have since been informed that the RA has rejected any change to the provisional action. Therefore, legal action must be considered to address this decision.”

But one lawyer pointed out that, under the 2011 Regulatory Authority Act, Mr Roban can only force the RA to change policy if he issues a “direction”.

The lawyer, who did not wish to be named, added that the direction would have to be published in the Gazette. If the direction was ignored, Mr Roban could seek to have it enforced through the courts.

The lawyer said: “If the minister has made a 'suggestion', the RA is not required to follow it as a direction.

“Also, a direction should not be relating to specific items or specific rights. In other words, the minister cannot be telling the RA what to do about Fuel Adjustment Rate or the Feed-In Tariff or what to do about Belco specifically.“

A second lawyer said: “I do not see a route for the minister to bring any legal action in the circumstances, but it would remain open to a private citizen to bring a call to action against the RA if the circumstances indicate that they have acted unreasonably, or not given full reasons for their decision.”

At a press conference announcing that he had written to the RA asking it to justify its approval of the increase, he said: “The Regulatory Authority operates independently. We have no role in the process that they do in fulfilling their duties as the regulators of licensed entities.

“The law is very clear and you can go to the regulatory act and see the role of the minister. I cannot direct or interfere with the RA in their role of regulating any particular entity.

“That is against the law. If I do it I am breaking the law and I will never break the law. But I do have a role in being able to ensure that the RA is mindful of government policy and is mindful of what their role is as a matter of public interest.

“I can certainly remind them on matters of policy and also as to what their role is and if I find, and certainly as the minister responsible for the regulatory area find that they may not have followed the law, the appropriate action can be taken by me as the minister to actually correct any errors, or certainly work with them to correct any errors that may have appeared. But I certainly don’t have any role in these specific decisions.

“They have served the country well as an independent body and I have confidence in that, but I think under the current conditions, the decisions that have been made deserve much more critical review.”

Yesterday, Curtis Dickinson, the former minister of finance, questioned Mr Roban’s handling of the situation.

In an interview on The Daily Hour talk show, Mr Dickinson said he had confidence in the RA’s ability to adjust fuel prices correctly ‒ and that Mr Roban should share that confidence.

He also pointed out that the RA’s reputation as an independent organisation could be damaged by any suggestion of political interference.

Mr Dickinson said: “The Regulatory Authority is an independent regulator and I get concerned when I see discussions between the political leadership and the regulator published in the daily papers. Those conversations are supposed to be discreet because there’s a concept in the world, whether it be in banking or insurance and even in government, it’s a concept called confidence.

“When a regulator is given the authority to make rules and enforce regulations you expect that they’re going to do their jobs properly.

“I read in summary last night the situation with the RA and the minister and I think the RA has declined to accept the minister’s advice with respect to the way forward. That conversation in my mind should have been confined to the regulator and the minister. I understand that we’re in the high political season but what we don’t want to do is lose confidence in the regulator.

“I think time will tell how this plays out but I have to believe that the RA, in doing their jobs, has properly investigated what their authorities are, what their process is, and given their pushback yesterday it seems as though they feel fairly confident in the position that they’ve taken.”

Mr Dickinson appeared to back claims by Belco that the increase was necessary because of “global events”.

He said: “We’re a small country that is part of a global economy and the things that happen outside of Bermuda actually impact what goes on inside of Bermuda.

“There’s no secret to me as a finance person that oil prices have been increasing over the course of the last several years. There’s now commentary in the news about oil prices going up again.

“This is an opportunity for us to advise the people of Bermuda on what’s happening in the world and how what’s happening in the world may impact us in Bermuda.”