Householders and motorists have had to dig deeper in their pockets to pay for light and petrol and this has been driven by a $161.8 million increase in the fuel import bill last year.
The disclosure came Monday from Acting Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw when she addressed a stakeholders’ workshop on Facilitating the Planning of Economic Diversity and Investment in the Energy Sector in Barbados.
Bradshaw told the delegates meeting at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre (LESC), that the local industry experienced a decline of 37.5 per cent in fuel consumption, which translated to a total falloff in domestic use of 23 per cent in 2021.
“However, this decline in fuel consumption for 2021 did not translate to a reduction in the fuel import bill, but rather, we observed an increase of $161.8 million,” the Acting Prime Minister said.
“As a consequence,” she added, “this increase in the fuel import bill for Barbados, saw Barbadians paying a higher cost at the pump and for electricity compared to 2020.” Bradshaw, who is acting for Prime Minister Mia Mottley who has been diagnosed with COVID-19, assured the country that the Government was not taking the situation of high energy costs on consumers lightly. “The Government of Barbados does not take lightly the confidence that our people have reposed in us and we are well aware that you, and all Barbadians expect us to chart this country’s journey in transforming our energy consumption from fossil fuel to 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030,” Bradshaw stated. She said that in keeping with this mandate, Government has continued its work to prepare the electricity market to take more renewable energy.
“The Ministry of Energy and Business has already completed a number of plans and studies that are necessary to establish the foundation for this country’s new energy policy,” she pointed out. The senior minister identified some of the major studies undertaken during 2021 as the Integrated Resource Resilient Energy Plan (IRRP), the Wind Energy Development Study, the Battery Storage Policy, Ocean Energy Studies and the Electric Vehicle Pilot Study. (EJ)
