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Residential Electricity Costs To Be Subsidised

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It is an attention grabbing headline, but what does it actually mean to the average user?

If media reports are correct, Government is going to subsidise the cost of fuel oil bunker C to the BNOC to the tune of $1.5 million. Again, according to media reports any saving will only apply to residential users, which were estimated at around 33% of total consumers.

As electricity bills climb, presumably so does the VAT collected and I wonder if anyone has actually calculated the additional revenue to Government this has brought?

Is this simply an exercise of giving with one hand and taking from another?

It would be interesting to know, what an average residential electricity bill is, and what has been the overall increase in VAT collected so far this year.

Adrian Loveridge

18 November 2007

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11 responses to “Residential Electricity Costs To Be Subsidised”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    Maybe we the country should expect a general election with more frequency. We just get the sense that the government for obvious reasons is prepared to debate the issue and the Opposition after a long hibernation is warming to the challenge of opposition politics. The concern which we have revolves around the balance of election politics and what the country can afford.

    We do not think that PM Arthur will make the same mistake the late Bree St.John dis and allow ‘the red boy’ to back raise him.

  2. Frankology Avatar
    Frankology

    Adrian I wonder if the Government acted after seeing my submission condemning the constant rise in electricity bills…
    “Let’s divest a bit and look at a major utility company that is using the rising fuel cost as an excuse for the constant increase in electricity charges.

    Although the company installed two 30-megawatt low speed diesel generators and the company was supposed to save millions of dollars, but instead, we are getting massive increases in our electricity bills and we are not speaking of $5.00 increases to our monthly bills, but real dineros. Everytime we object to these increases, we get the excuse from the company of increased fuel charges.”

    Utilities install equipment far above the demand, and the cost factor would not be affected, since we are customers are increasing the usage of electricity. The more we use, the bigger the profit margin for BL&P. 2% increase in fuel is bare joke to their operation cost.

  3. Frankology Avatar
    Frankology

    delete the 11.24 am submission.

  4. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Thirty days gone, when is this no-confidence motion coming?

    Don’t tell me this is more hot air?

    I need some information to take to my dad, who was a lifelong DLP supporter, in Westbury Cemetery

  5. No Name Avatar
    No Name

    Frankology it was either your post or a coincidence but either way it is a win win situation.

    A move like that is beneficial to all none more so than the poor and many middleclass families trying to raise children and put food on the table.

    You raise a very valid point though. Why does it take an election to get things that should have been addressed years ago only now being addressed?

    It is like a person that has serious symptoms and suspect the worse but does not see a doctor for months until the illness has reached almost debillitating proportions. Obviously the treatment at that stage need to be far more aggressive, serious and in some cases too late to save the patient!

    The thing that this Government must come to grips with and address on an ongoing basis or treat as a “work in progress” situation is that under no circumstances and for none of the reasons they give can you allow such a huge percentage of your population to be literally second class Citizens when compared to the lesser amount of the populace.

    If your Industrial base and Natural Resources are incapable of generating an economy that clearly allows most to live in diginty and have the basic neccesitities of life then you must deal with it as is now being done with price controls, subsidies to the utility facility and measures of this type.

    As soon as the Industrial culture see that you are serious about being fair to all and will take the necessary action to do so regardless of how hard it is, they too will come to their senses.

    I will bet that if these price controls remain the Merchants will ditch Commission Agents and buy direct to make up their loss.

    Every country in the world has its poor, street people etc but the proportions of these in Barbados when compared to the general population indicates beyond reasonable doubt something is wrong that needs fixing and quickly!

  6. to the point Avatar
    to the point

    Patience, Patience,

    It is coming next week tuesday for sure. and boy is it going to be hot. I would really like to be sitting next to Albert Branford when the evidence is produced. Remember that i told you his prosecution will stand on three critical points.

  7. to the point Avatar
    to the point

    Patience, Patience,

    I is coming next week tuesday for sure. and boy is it going to be hot whenever the debate is held. I would really like to be sitting next to Albert Branford when the evidence is produced. Remember that i told you his prosecution will stand on three critical points.
    1. mascoll lied to the public when he said that mr. murrell built 500 houses in grenada. this we know is not true but it was used as a basis on which he was held up as a person to received favoured government attention facilitated by mascoll himself. so say oh that is a minor thing but ministers are sworned to uphold law and to be true in the execuion of their duties. That mascoll lied or was not vigilant enough to check whether this man’s claim was true is an indictment on him and shows servere lack of judgement on his part.

    2. Mascoll and his wife admit that they had murrell and some of the employees of hardwood working on her private office complex in perry gap. He murrell also admited that he had both personnel and equipment from hardwood at the perry gap office site and that when Mrs Mascoll paid him he endorsed the cheque payable to hardwood. Now some of you would well remember that in the no-confidence motion against branford taitt Billie Miller and her colleagues including owen arthur made the point that to have a contractor conracted by the Ministry of Health (the government) working at the minister’s private residence at the same time he was working at St. Joseph’s Hospital was a serious conflict of interest for which taitt was directly responsible and as minister of the crown should have known better. Billie Miller then said that on this issue alone that taitt should be asked to resign and or face the highest censure of parliament. Taitt of course denied that it was true and said that when the contractor work at his house in 1989 st. joseph was not even started yet. The contractor himself confirmed taitt view at the commission of enquiry. The Mascolls nor mr. murrell however never disputed this fact and indeed comfirmed it in the press interview.

    3. the third major reason for the no-confidence motion is the link between mascoll and the company. Mascoll is saying that all he did was to help a poor black man with a good idea and that their is nothing wrong with that. There is a nother view that he was very closely linked to the company and that he in fact was making decisions about and with the company that were inappropriate for a minister of the crown. Now mascoll believes that he has all of his ground covered if you listen to what Al Branford is saying in today’s paper but the question is does he really have the ground fully covered. And this is where, inaddition to the other things mentioned that the public view of this situation will rest on what evidence thompson produces that links mascoll to the company or its operations.

    If for example thonpson is able to show that mascoll was in anyway associated with the day to day operations of that company its good night nurse for clyde if not thompson will lose on the debate. It will ne vey interesting.

    What i can say is that i know for sure that the evidence is out there that mascoll was heavily involved in that company’s operations but what i dont know is if thompson has it. but i will wait and see.

  8. Fred Avatar
    Fred

    If you also add to this debate items that are yet to be made public I think we will see sooner rather than later that there is a lot of very damaging evidence that Mr Thompson has on hand that has not been made public this I know to be the case.
    The meeting tonight was a meeting of meetings, it was related how during the debate that Mr Thompson suggested to ASSCOLL that he ought not to be the one bringing the act because they were changing the laws to make the Directors of these credit unions more accountable to the shareholders and that he ASSCOLL was told by Arthur to return the money to the credit union that he had stolen, and from there ASSCOLL lost his composure and went into rapid decline and rapid disorder.
    Mr Hutson during his presentation at the meeting also addressed the need for proper planning with these numerous condo developments taking place along the west coast and he asked the question when they replace all the hotels with condos what about employment for the maids, gardeners, bar staff etc one of the developers said he had not given it any thought, this is pretty indicative of the care these folks have for the locals.
    The moment of the night came when Mr Thompson asked the massive audience after reading the details of the motionif they think that he should proceed with the motion there was deafening shoot of yes he then asked a second time if yea or nay to moving forward with the motion and this time the response was even more deafening to which his reply was we will lodge it next week.
    There is a lot of unity within the DLP and the platform was one of warmth and support for each other, not the same can be said about the blp camp at this time with ASSCOLL having upset and riled Mottley and a few others, and with the uncertainity of if or if not the returing of Rawle Eastmond, they sent out a tester this past week in the form of Sandra Husbands, and the uncertainity of the return of Hammy Lashley on a personal not if I were Hammy Lashley I would clearly tell Arthur enough is enough and I will not be taking anymore of your rough abuse and your ranting and raving and your cursing, find someone else to run in for my seat, that is based on if he has any decency left in him.

  9. Adrian Loveridge Avatar
    Adrian Loveridge

    I think if Government was really serious that it would remove all duties, VAT and any other taxes on ALL low energy light bulbs and other energy savings devices with immediate effect.

    Secondly, it should adopt its own rheotoric by installing energy savings devices/bulbs in all Government buildings and size-down all those great big vehicles they are driving around.

    What are we going to hear next, stopping moaning and generate your own electricity?

  10. anon Avatar
    anon

    Adrian L

    For your benefit i note below an extract from the presentation by the Minister of Finance of his economic and financial policies on march 14, 2007

    “The Government proposes to introduce, after further consultation, a new
    tax regime for the importation of “green products”, concentrating on
    those products that assist with the crosscutting issues earlier identified –
    energy and water conservation and waste minimisation. Green Products
    could include solar air conditioners, solar pumps and solar lights,
    household compost units, water-saving and storage devices.”

  11. Adrian Loveridge Avatar
    Adrian Loveridge

    Thank you Anon…

    14 March 2007

    ‘after further consultation’

    What was the price per barrel of oil in March and what is it now?

    Perhaps it is not such a priority for the PM and action will be taken sometime in the next 13 years or so.

    What is there stopping the Minister of Finance lifting any duties/taxes/vat NOW?

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