B.E.L. sends in official rate increase request to P.U.C.

It’s official, today Belize Electricity Limited served the Public Utilities Commission with an official request for higher rates. According to a press release issued to the media, B.E.L. is asking for an additional five point four cents per kilowatt hour. Company C.E.O. Lynn Young continues to maintain that the “financial integrity of B.E.L. is threatened by past high build-up in the Rate Stabilization Account, projected increases in the price of Mexican power, and the acquisition costs of oil.” Lynn had first indicated B.E.L.’s intention to raise prices at the commissioning of the Chalillo Hydroelectric Facility in November. Despite that project coming on stream and other alternative energy source initiatives in the works, B.E.L. had contended that the approved hike earlier this year would not be enough. The mean electricity rate is currently set at thirty-nine cents per kilowatt hour.