BEL’s Request for Rate Increase is an Average of 3 cents kWh

Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) has announced why it’s asking to raise electricity prices starting January first, 2026. In a detailed ninety-one-page report to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), BEL is requesting an average increase of three cents per kilowatt hour, from forty cents to forty-three cents. If approved, this new rate will be in effect until June thirtieth, 2028. BEL explains that the price hike is necessary due to the rapidly growing demand for electricity, which increasingly relies on more expensive sources. Additionally, the company needs to recover past energy supply costs that exceeded the revenues collected. BEL assures that its proposal is backed by comprehensive documentation and data. The PUC is currently reviewing the request and will issue its initial decision within thirty days of the submission date, which was April fourth. News Five’s Marion Ali takes another look at the submission.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

In its submission to the Public Utilities Commission, the Belize Electricity Limited has applied for an average of three cent per kilowatt hour increase for the period January first, 2026, to June thirtieth, 2028. The increase, however, if approved, would mean that there will be categories of customers who will pay more than the three-cent per kilowatt hour. Depending on how many kilowatt hours customers use, their light bill would include prices charged. Under the old rate structure, residential customers using more than two hundred kilowatt hours per month paid forty-three cents per kilowatt hour. But with the new tariff structure, customers using between fifty-one and two hundred kilowatt hours would pay forty-one cents. Those using between two hundred and three hundred kilowatt hours would pay forty-six cents, and if you use over three hundred kilowatt hours, you’d pay forty-eight cents.

 

BEL has indicated that its power supply resources, including the Mollejon facility, the Chalillo Dam and the Vaca facility. B.E.L. owns a power station comprising mobile diesel-powered generating units in Caye Caulker and two diesel-powered gas turbines, one at the Westlake Gas Turbine Facility at Mile Eight on the George Price Highway and the facility near the southern tip of Ambergris Caye. The cost associated with B.E.L.-owned generation is specified by a monthly capacity charge.

 

Minister of Public Utilities, Michel Chebat told News Five today that no load shedding is expected to occur this year because of supply and demand shortages. He indicated that there are mainly two aspects of providing power technically: the generation and the distribution aspects. In terms of power generation, the minister said that BEL is peaking at a hundred and fifteen megawatts and that there is sufficient in-country generation to cover that demand with the two plants that are in effect.

 

Where hiccups may occur, as they have over the past couple weeks in San Pedro has to do with line maintenance. As we enter the dry season, dust and debris accumulate on the lines and transmitters and can interrupt power flow. However, during these times, B.E.L. dispatches work crews to clean up the equipment to alleviate this problem. He added that there is also an invitation by the government to whomever is interested to set up an eighty-kilowatt solar plant. This should be in place within the next two years. Marion Ali for News Five.