Belco’s latest decision to increase Bermuda’s already high electricity costs — with the kilowatt-hour rate projected to go up next month by almost 14 per cent — amounts to a punch in the gut for everyday Bermudians.

Many on our island already struggle to meet the existing high bills, with some Bermudians forced by hardship to choose between paying for food, rent, electricity or healthcare.

Belco’s move seems tone-deaf to the plight of hard-working Bermudians, people trying desperately to keep their heads above the rising waterline.

And the Progressive Labour Party government has been noticeably quiet on this issue, seeking to shift the problem of Bermuda’s high energy bills into the lap of the independent regulator.

However, as the One Bermuda Alliance has pointed out before, the Regulatory Authority’s involvement as regulator does not excuse government inaction. Inaction that demonstrates, yet again, the hollow promises of the Government to lower the cost of living. Costs that seem only to keep going up and up and up.

If our economy were not such a mess, a financially stable government might intervene to lower fuel taxes, helping to offset Belco’s impending price increases. Yet PLP mismanagement has left our island in a rocky financial state, so that creative tax solution can no longer be sensibly deployed.

Instead, the Government simply repeats its line that this is the RA’s problem. And so Belco will now increase our electricity costs. And Bermudians will suffer.

Of course, Belco and the Government are not the only ones who will face public criticism. It was the RA’s decision to permit Belco to implement increases.

The RA is supposed to be the independent watchdog here, with a statutory duty to protect the rights of consumers and end users. When Belco seeks an increase, the RA is bound under Bermuda’s existing laws to consider a number of factors.

Earlier this year, Belco took the RA to court to determine how the regulator must interpret those various existing factors. Although the RA eventually saw off Belco’s legal claim, it may now be wary of further legal battles.

The OBA recognises this is a complicated issue. One central question the public will wish to have answered is this: has Belco gone so far as to assert that without this significant price increase the utility cannot reliably provide power to the island?

If not, then what has Belco said to persuade the RA to permit this latest increase? Put more simply, what’s actually at stake here?

Doubtless, Belco must now explain to the public why our already-high costs will be getting even higher in August. Additionally, the RA must explain to the public why it decided to permit Belco’s requested increase — a decision many will find surprising, given our present economic climate. Finally, the Government must explain what it plans to do about it.

Some may rightly ask what the OBA would do if we were the government.

Well, for a start, we would not have left it so long and let things get this far down the road. As long ago as the summer of 2022 (The Royal Gazette, August 12, 2022), the OBA highlighted the urgent need for greater engagement by the Government on the issues concerning Belco and the RA.

When Belco’s 2023 rate increases were announced last autumn, the OBA swiftly called to “press pause” on those increases (The Royal Gazette, October 13, 2023) — recommending that all parties rethink matters because Bermudians could ill afford such increases.

Opposition leader Jarion Richardson also stated publicly (The Royal Gazette, October 23, 2023) that the OBA was prepared to work with the Government to explore bipartisan legislative solutions to delay Belco cost increases. The PLP declined the OBA’s offer to seek such a solution, instead announcing the Government would carry out “a much more critical review” of the RA’s methods in approving the increase. The next day, the Government then claimed victory, promising a reduction in energy bills.

It is unclear whether the Government’s promised review of October 2023 ever happened. If it did, it is unclear what that review determined about the scope of the RA’s powers.

Were the OBA to form Bermuda’s next government, we would conduct a comprehensive review of the island’s energy needs, targeting how best to achieve a more sustainable mix, with less reliance on fossil fuels, and identifying how we can harness modern and more sustainable solutions for energy generation. And as to the RA, we must also explore whether consumer protection is being given sufficient weight in the regulator’s statutory determinations of whether or not to permit Belco’s requests to increase costs.

Bermuda is a prominent international financial centre. Bermudians have a reputation for understanding the needs of business. Many Bermudians will readily understand that Belco must achieve a reasonable rate of return on its investment in order to justify the cost of service provision and continuing investment.

Yet Bermudians also know Belco is more than simply a business — Belco is also a public utility. And on our island, Belco has an effective monopoly in the service it provides to the people. In such circumstances, it is legitimate to question what weight the people’s position is being given alongside the other factors the RA must legally consider when regulating Belco.

If the Government has now concluded the review of RA powers that it announced last October, why has it not yet shared its conclusions with the Bermudian public? Is there something the Government is trying to hide? And if the RA is to be a successful energy regulator, the RA’s statutory remit must be broad enough to enable it to keep Belco’s costs in check. Otherwise, what purpose does the RA serve in our energy sector?

• Scott Pearman is the Shadow Minister of Legal Affairs and Home Affairs, and the MP for Paget East (Constituency 22)