There were intermittent power outages countrywide over the long weekend – and while most people we spoke to felt that a spiteful Stan Marshall was toggling the switch to make the government get the sense – BEL has assured us, no such thing happened. BEL says there was an outage on Sunday morning in parts of the Cayo District as the result of a traffic accident. And then on Monday evening, there was a countrywide blackout that got everyone’s attention. But BEL says, it’s not their fault. According to a company release, their power partners in Mexico Comision Federal de Electricidad, CFE for short, had a damaged switch on the transmission line – and that caused the outage. Using local power sources, power was restored to all areas by 6:15 pm.
And then, there was another countrywide blackout, just after 5 this morning. Again, BEL blamed the cult pits as CFE – but this time it was an auto transformer fault at their end. Belize City got back power before 6:00,
Orange Walk just before 7:00 and Corozal by 8:00. Now these things do happen, but the timing is what gives pause to an already wary consumer base.
Wary because last week Fortis President Stan Marshall warned that BEL could be forced to institute blackouts because it just can’t afford to pay power anymore.
Stan Marshall, CEO - Fortis
"I am saying to you tonight that regulatory issues must now be resolved and electricity prices must be increased to reflect the true cost of power before Fortis will make any additional investment in BEL. We will not do this time what we did back in 2006. And I will also highlight for you the gravity of the situation, that if this is not done, BEL will not have the cash to purchase power from Mexico in the coming months. Without power from Mexico, BEL will be forced into rotating blackouts. Immediate action is required. I cannot understate the seriousness of this situation."
That statement got everybody’s attention including the Prime Minister. He is meeting with BEL President Lyn Young at this hour, and will have a press conference on Thursday to discuss government’s strategy to resolve - or as the case may be, eliminate, what has turned into a standoff with the power company. But whatever strategy the PM pursues, he knows he will most likely have the support of the opposition. A PUP release says Marshall’s statement is a threat, which is quote “grossly offensive, downright disrespectful and inconsistent with the responsibilities of good corporate citizenship.” It continues, “the PUP calls on the government to take steps to ensure that the Belizean people do not suffer if BEL carries out this threat.”
