So, while a reduction in your light bill may not be something available in the foreseeable future, the company says that it has tried to be understanding of the financial pain facing its customers.
That's why, in 2020, they stopped disconnecting customers who had arrears and couldn't pay due to losses in wages. That consideration has caused their total arrears to grow from approximately 25 million to somewhere between 40 and 50 million dollars.
We asked the Chairman about that:
E. Andrew Marshalleck - Chairman, BEL Board of Director
"What we've done is not a single customer was disconnected for non-payment of bills throughout that year, not one. And that's why the arrears have climbed by close to 20 million dollars. They're significant amounts owed for electricity that has not been paid. Luckily, because of the reduced costs, we were able to off-set and bear that, because if it were the case that the cost of power was more closely matched to the revenues, the failure to pay those bills would have jeopardized the ability of the company to provide power to everybody. Luckily, because of the reduced cost experience, we were able to accommodate, for the entire year, those arrears. So, what we've done, apart from making significant donations toward COVID relief directly, is to not disconnect any customer for the year. And, we've since embarked on a program of contacting people and trying to make reasonable arrangements to accommodate the accounts being brought back current. And, that's the approach we've taken. We've taken a soft approach to the collections, but that's not to say that the funds are to be written off. They still need to be collected. You need to remember that if it is that these amounts are not collected, and they become a cost to the company, eventually, that cost gets revisited to the entire consumer base by way of an adjustment to the rate. So, what the lower cost of power has done for is given us some space to allow more latitude in those arrangements can be made, and how payment arrangements can be accommodated. And that's the approach we've taken to it."
Reporter
"So, it's a situation of a slow bleed or a wound that's continuously bleeding, that must be closed at some point."
E. Andrew Marshalleck
"Yes, and we're making efforts to close it, but we're dealing with it on an individual basis, rather than just setting arbitrary cut-off dates, or anything like that. We're talking and engaging with the customers, and trying to make arrangements the circumstances they face."
