Customers will begin to see a considerable reduction in the electricity bills when the government implements a programme aimed at reducing costs and conserving energy, revealed Environment Minister Kenred Dorsett.

Mr. Dorsett recently told the Journal the key to the government’s energy plan is to transform the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC).

The environment minister said that current energy costs are alarming for both residents and business owners and he said the current administration has made it a priority to set the country in a new direction in terms of energy.

“We plan to initiate a programme to reduce the cost of electricity which is priority for this administration and certainly for the reception that I received from making that contribution I realised that is something that is incredibly important for the people of The Bahamas and business owners,” Mr. Dorsett said.

“The reality is that we have to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. It’s not only going to come from the adoption and integration of alternative and renewable energy. BEC in the short-term, medium-term and long-term is going to have to look at adopting some efficiencies in terms of how it generates and produces power and there will also be a need in the short-term for increased capacity.”
Mr. Dorsett said that a part of this major energy transformation will be encouraging Bahamians to switch to more energy-efficient appliances and providing consumers with incentives to conserve.

“One thing that we are cognizant of is, the more we educate the Bahamian people about energy conservation the more we create a balance and a programme to ensure that Bahamians focus on more energy-efficient appliances; the more we advance this programme for the introduction of photovoltaic systems to ensure that people can reduce their consumption the greater demand on BEC to increase capacity,” he said.
Though Mr. Dorsett did not give specific details of the new programme, he maintained that its benefits will be vast and he noted the urgency in getting the programme underway.

“It’s a matter of critical importance to all Bahamians and so what we would hope to do is to be able to achieve in a meaningful way substantial reductions in the cost of electricity by some of the programmes we are advancing today,” Mr. Dorsett said.