190 persons or groups wrote in to the Public Utilities Commission objecting to BEL's proposal for a rate increase. The deadline to submit objections was Tuesday and by that time 75 were mailed or hand delivered, 23 were faxed in and 92 were e-mailed.
They came from all over, including the Sisters of Mercy, the staff of the Income Tax Department, the Chamber of Commerce, the Belmopan City Council, former Belmopan Mayor Tony Chanona as well as the Trade Union Congress and Representatives Mark Espat and Cordel Hyde.
The objections make various arguments including one which says that utility companies should not operate for a profit in developing countries, and another which suggests a 5% increase and a government decision to remove the GST from light bills.
What will the PUC do? Well, we'll know tomorrow when the Commission’s final decision on BEL's TERP submission is announced. If we read correctly into today's rare release on the content of objections, though, we'd say that the PUC is making a public case to refuse BEL's submission. But even without the scenery, the number of objections is notable; our records show that in April of 2007 when the last increase was proposed, only 11 objections were registered.
