A leading businessmen is urging the government to tackle energy reform, Super Wash President and member of the Coalition for Responsible Taxation Dionisio D’Aguilar said that today’s electricity costs are twice what they should be and said the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) is simply as a disaster.

“BEC is in just an absolute horrendous condition, I’m a former director of BEC I was on the board of BEC until the last general election and I can tell you it is a disaster, it is bankrupt and if they won’t tell you, that’s what it is, they have no money,” he said.

Mr. D’Aguilar’s comments came during a recent Rotary luncheon meeting.

He said that BEC is plagued by a vicious cycle and questioned how the power company would support the demand from the upcoming mega Baha Mar resort.

“People don’t pay their bills, you don’t get the parts, so you don’t get money in to buy the parts in order to fix your generators so you cant do advance purchasing, so your generators are constantly down,” he said.

“When Baha Mar kicks in we’re going to be in an even worse position, when you speak to the people at BEC, their essentially generating what we demand now.”

Earlier this month customers took to social media outlets to vent their frustration over repeated power outages after BEC experienced three engine failures.

At last report BEC Chairman Leslie Miller renewed calls for the government to invest in a new $200 million power plant in an effort the meet the increasing demand for electricity.

He also told the Bahama Journal that the power company is looking to bring in more generators to meet the additional demand from Baha Mar.

Due to the numerous engine failures at Clifton Pier, Mr. Miller also said that Bahamians can expect to see an increase in their electricity bills by next month.

“The surcharge is going to go up appreciably due to the fact that we had to rely more on Blue Hill than Clifton Pier, every day that we have to rely on Blue Hill over Clifton with the total output at Blue Hill – it cost us an extra quarter of a million dollars per day for fuel, its $10,000 an hour, its approximately $250,000 a day extra that compute out to as much as five sets per kilowatt hour on your next electricity bill,” he said.

In an effort to get the ball rolling on tackling energy reform, last month, The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) along with the Coalition for Responsible Taxation presented the Christie Administration with a report on how the government can efficiently generate energy.

The report lays out an action plan to reduce electricity cost within the next two to three years and the construction of new power plant by 2016.

The report emphasised the critical importance of reducing energy costs in an effort lessen the long term negative effects on disposable income due to the implementation of Value Added Tax (VAT).