The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

SOME local businesses are dreading the approach of summer due to increased electricity costs.

Craig Flowers, owner of the FML Group of Companies, said the hike in power bills will be an “ongoing struggle” for all businesses, especially those that operate in larger buildings.

Mr Flowers said as summer approaches it will be challenging in terms of managing energy.

“We know that there’s going to be a challenge coming this summer. The summer months are always going to be a challenge for us in how we manage our energy. And we are now looking at this period coming up whether or not we would be able to stay within the limits in which we gave ourselves to operate in light of the fact that the energy prices have increased.

“We have to do our best in managing what we have and that is the space in which we have to do business and the people that are going to be coming in and out of these places,” Mr Flowers said.

Danielle Sands, owner of Crave at Studio Deli, also shared similar sentiments as she expressed concern about the electricity bills getting even higher during the hotter months.

“I am concerned about the summer months when electricity bills seem to go a bit higher due to people consuming more electricity, everything like that.”

Although Mrs Sands said her business is energy efficient, she explained there are only so many things they can cut back on without affecting their overall food service.

“We have always been pretty efficient as far as only using what is required. I can’t cut back on my refrigerators because we are dealing with a perishable product, so that’s not an option for me.

“And we’ve always used energy efficient light bulbs, lighting and stuff like that. So we will probably look into it more, my team and I will probably see if there are any alternatives,” she said.

Asked if she has seen an increase in her electricity bill, Mrs Sands said she noticed her bill had gone up by 25-30 percent.

She noted as a small business owner any increase in electricity costs impacts the bottom line.

“(I have seen a) 25 to 30 percent increase here in the electricity bill. I actually made note of it. I checked and I looked at the year before and I said ‘wow, there is an increase in the electricity bill.’ Because I wanted to see how it would affect me as a small business owner,” she said.

Meanwhile, Graham Weatherford, a former business owner, said businesses and residents should switch to solar energy.

“I realised that energy costs would shut down businesses and would be more than mortgages. So you’d lose your home because you’d have to pay a bigger light bill than your mortgage or rent. And I said, maybe it’s better to take the money and put it into solar energy. And so along with energy efficiency appliances and certain things you can do in your home I lowered my cost by 99 percent.”

Mr Weatherford said many others could also benefit if they tried similar methods.

In October, Bahamas Power and Light announced an increase to its monthly fuel charge which was reflected in consumers’ electricity bills last November.

Customers that consume less than 800 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per month will see their fuel charge rise via a series of rolling two cent quarterly increases, while for those using more than that threshold it will be a 4.3 cents per kWh quarterly leap.