Legislation to allow local companies to install larger energy sources to generate power solely for themselves has been given the green light by Parliament.

Walter Roban, the Minister of Home Affairs, said the Electricity Amendment Act 2024 would create a bulk generation sole-use installation licence, allowing holders to generate more than 500kW of electricity, provided that they use or store the bulk of the generated energy on site.

Licences will be subject to the Regulatory Authority’s oversight to ensure minimal risk to the grid and for costs to remain stable.

Mr Roban previously said the two top candidates for the new licence would be the National Sports Centre and the Department of Public Transportation’s depot in Devonshire, where solar power would feed into charging stations for electric buses.

Wayne Caines, a PLP backbencher and president of Belco, said he was supportive of the measures as it will encourage the adoption of renewable energy.

However, he said more robust collaboration was required to ensure Bermudians unable to afford renewable energy did not face rising energy costs.

“There is such a thing as too much of a good thing,” he said. “Solar is an intermittent power source, meaning no power generated from sundown to sun up or when there is cloud cover.

“Therefore, the island’s utility provider must always have an engine running to accommodate the sudden up and down of the 15 megawatts of solar feeding into the grid.

“As more homes and businesses install rooftop solar, it reduces the kilowatt sales and decreases the customer base that shares the fixed cost necessary to operate the utility.

“As a result, the prices climb higher for all of the remaining customers, and it affects those who most cannot afford solar power, so it puts a greater burden on those who can least afford it.”

Mr Caines also called for greater consultation, stating that Belco received the draft paper two days before it was tabled.

“In this instance we were given a memorandum, we responded to the memorandum, we received the draft to consider two days before it was tabled,” he said.

“If we are indeed to have collaboration that is fair and everyone gets to have input and it is for the betterment of everyone, there will need to be more robust collaboration with all the parties included.”

Mr Roban agreed that it was critically important to plan out the “inevitable” move towards renewable energy and ensure the public are educated about the challenges of the process.

“I happen to believe Bermuda is doing a pretty good job with how we are managing this transition,” he said.

He said Bermuda has some of the highest energy costs on the planet, and renewable energy could help to address that if the environment is well regulated and demand is managed.

“The reality is, this industry is changing so it will require co-operation,” he said. “We are not going to get to net zero any time soon.”