BEL: new rates for Chalillo help consumers
The management of Belize Electricity Limited today came as close as they may ever dare to guaranteeing consumers that rates will drop once the Chalillo Hydro Project comes on stream. That prediction accompanied the announcement that the Public Utilities Commission has approved the new power purchase agreement under which B.E.L. will buy current from its sister company, BECOL. According to B.E.L. C.E.O. Lynn Young, the price of all power generated by the Chalillo/Mollejon complex in excess of one hundred gigawatt per year will be eleven point five cents Belize. This compares to nineteen cents currently being paid for Mollejon, twenty to thirty for diesel generated power and twelve to forty-eight cents for electricity purchased from Mexico.
Lynn Young, CEO, B.E.L.
“What we’ve shown is that we get a mix of power from different sources, from Mexico, diesel, the existing Mollejon, and now we’re adding Chalillo. What we’re saying is that Chalillo is coming at eleven and a half cents. The average cost of power for us right now is seventeen and a half cents. So automatically, it translates into a lower cost for us which will be passed on to customers.”
The reason Young cannot make an absolute guarantee of lower rates is that with a significant portion of B.E.L.’s power still dependent on fluctuating oil and natural gas prices, a steep rise in these commodities could still affect the equation negatively. The agreement also calls for a fifty-year term of operation for the Chalillo/Mollejon package, fifteen years longer than the original contract made in 1996. During these fifteen years, however, BECOL will lease the operation from government for an initial annual fee of one million U.S. dollars, with an escalation each of the next fourteen years.
While Young and B.E.L. are gearing up for Chalillo, it’s no secret that those opposed to the project are still working harder than ever to stop it. They are hoping to prevent B.E.L.’s parent company, Fortis of Canada, from raising the necessary financing on the international market. Young says he’s not impressed.
Lynn Young
“I don’t think they can stop the financing at this point. Fortis is committed to financing the constructing of the Chalillo dam. I really don’t know what…to be honest, I’m very surprised at the aggressiveness, at the willingness of these people to misstate the facts, to twist the things, so I won’t put anything past them at this point. But it is our hope that we’ll be able to get this thing done to the benefit of everybody.”
Engineering on Chalillo is already underway with the bulk of the heavy construction to be completed during the 2003 dry season.
