P.U.C.: B.E.L. is to comply with requests for new connections

The Public Utilities Commission met throughout the day in Belize City over a new development in which Belize Electricity Limited is not connecting new customers to their grid, whether of a residential or business nature. Just before news time the P.U.C. issued a lengthy statement challenging B.E.L. and as it often is in these instances, the issue seems to boil down to a matter of interpretation. B.E.L. has not been signing on new customers because it claims it has reached its ceiling of twenty-five million in capital expenditure that has been placed by the P.U.C. A thorough analysis of the release is pending due to its tardiness, but the gist is that the P.U.C. says it has not placed a limit on spending or expenditure capital or otherwise on BEL for this year or next year. The P.U.C. also warns that it expects that BEL will adhere to the conditions of its license and will refrain from refusing to satisfy any reasonable requests for the supply of electricity and there is nothing on a decision of June twenty-sixth, 2008 that restricts or limits BEL from meeting its obligations to satisfy electricity service within Belize. From what we have been told, Fortis, the parent company of BEL which has invested in the range of two hundred million dollars, is weighing all options including taking legal action against the government and the P.U.C.. Just recently the P.U.C. and the BEL were at loggerheads over the proposal to increase electricity rates. The supply of electricity is an essential service but not withstanding, it is difficult to imagine a ban on any new connections.