FTC chief responds to claims of BL&P rate hike approval

The Fair Trading Commission (FTC) will on Wednesday hear an application from the Barbados Light and Power Company (BL&P) to keep certain information from the public as a lead-up to the hearing for an interim rate increase.

But the FTC’s Chief Executive Officer Marsha Atherley-Ikechi told Barbados TODAY that, contrary to rumours which have been circulating, the utility regulator has not agreed on any rate increase for the power company.

“What we are doing on Wednesday is having the confidentiality hearing for the general rate application. We had initiated that about two or three weeks ago, and it had to be postponed because of an intervening matter. That matter was considered, and now we are moving ahead with the confidentiality hearing for the general rate application,” she said.

In its application, the BL&P is asking the FTC to exclude certain “confidential” information from being made known to the public during the rate hearing.

Describing as “malicious”, reports that the FTC was looking to grant an interim rate increase because all but one intervenor had opposed the hike, Atherley-Ikechi said: “I don’t know where they got that from. That is malicious. Not that we are granting it [interim relief], we have to consider the merits of it. So the hearing for that has not started as yet, but we have not made a determination on it. We are in the process of still considering it.”

Back in April, the FTC said it had approved eight intervenors who will be challenging the BL&P’s proposed basic rate increase. It said then that the hearings would start mid-May but no start date has yet been announced.

While still unable to say when the rate application would be heard, the FTC chief executive said it would be “sooner rather than later”.

“I can’t give you a specific date, but obviously that is something that we need to address before we get into the main application,” she explained.   

In its application filed in September 2021, the electricity company told the FTC it was critical for the viability of BLP that interim rate relief at the proposed rates be allowed by November 1, 2021, until a final decision was made on the main request.   

The country’s sole power company has contended that it would be unable to fund its planned investments to meet customer requirements if it does not get the interim rate increase.               

It is seeking rate hikes ranging from $2 to $6 more per month for domestic customers and between $4 and $10 more for general service users.   

If the increases are approved, the energy bill for large power customers would move from $1,287.00 per month for each service to $1,587 per month and secondary voltage customers’ rate would move from $149 to $169 per month.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb