The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

ANGRY Bahamas Power and Light Company Ltd consumers yesterday criticised the electricity provider and dismissed BPL’s explanation over higher-than-normal billing following Hurricane Matthew.

Many consumers told The Tribune they simply could not wrap their minds around the “extraordinarily” high bills they were sent, with several of them rejecting BPL’s claims of using “historical usage data” that was specific to each customer’s account to calculate billing.

And as customers bemoaned this, they were also forced to combat constant power cuts yesterday.

The situation, one BPL customer said, was “outrageous” for a power company that is “ridiculously unreliable.”

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis maintained that there has been no rate increase. He said the government has given directives to BPL’s board of directors to work with anyone that has been adversely affected by the billing procedure.

“During the course of the hurricane I understand they estimated some bills and then there were adjustments made for the bills after the hurricane,” Mr Davis told reporters on the sidelines of an event at the Nassau Straw Market yesterday. “Now that adjustment may appear to have the difference that would have been added to the current bill.

“And anyone who is as affected adversely by it, we have given directives to the chairman to work with those who might have been affected by what they call, the additional sum that was added to the bill because of the adjustment that had to be made because of the underestimation that was made during the course of the estimation of the bill during the month of October.”

On Tuesday, BPL denied that it had hiked prices and sought to clarify billing practices specifically for October and November 2016 electricity usage.

In a press statement, the provider said there had been no rate increase, but instead electricity bills had decreased as much as 50 per cent in some instances compared to May 2012. This is primarily due to fleet improvements, energy efficiency measures, lower fuel prices and other managerial initiatives, BPL said.

BPL said it estimated the October bill because employees were working to restore electricity service to customers post Hurricane Matthew.

“This estimate took into consideration historical usage data specific to each customer’s account. The November bill was calculated from the actual meter reading of the account,” BPL said.

But Margot Nairn, a 15-year resident of Millennium Gardens, questioned whether BPL had been using someone else’s billing history to calculate her household’s usage.

“I really am outraged,” she said, “fifteen years in my house and I’ve never seen this kind of bill. My bill is usually between $200 and $300 per month give or take. But my last bill was $550. I’m not able to make sense of this at all.”

Asked whether she would query the bill with BPL, Ms Nairn said she intends to do so, but she doesn’t have much hope that anything will be done.

Another consumer, Neville Hart, branded BPL’s billing procedure a “pile of foolishness” and said by not explaining the billing system outright was poor customer relations at its finest.

He said: “It really is foolishness. BPL should have said ahead of slapping us with super low bills and then a stupidly high one that they were estimating. The customer relations at BPL leaves much to be desired. The bill that I was issued was even higher than my highest bull during the oil hike in 2008 and 2009.

“BPL must be broke and trying to suck the poor consumer dry for every dollar they can get.”

“It’s just outrageously high for a power company that is ridiculously unreliable,” another customer Samantha Dennis said. “I wouldn’t mind paying if the service wasn’t so poor.

“Sadly I queried the bill and got no resolution. What am I to do? Not pay and then be turned off? We don’t have a choice.”

• Some names in this story have been changed at the request of the interviewees.