And while the solar debate is just starting - we shouldn't let it distract from the larger debate of how the country got into this power starved situation in the first place.
As we have reported, 11 years ago, the PUC put out a request for 75 megawatts of new power generation. More than a decade later, we have 8 more megawatts. That was a big fail, and in a recent article - the Chairman of BEL Andrew Marshalleck says the capacity crisis certainly is not BEL's fault since the company is strictly tasked with power transmission and distribution - not generation.
He seems to suggest - not outlandishly - that it's the PUC who dropped the ball. We asked Chebat to respond to his comments:
Jo-
"In the article published earlier this week - the chairman of BEL seemed to put the blame for the current power crisis on the PUC when he said, quote "Since 2013, the system for managed competition has not only failed to produce cheaper sources of power for Belizeans but it has failed to make such sources of power available any at all." Is the PUC and its regulatory environment to blame for the current power crisis?"
Michel Chebat, Minister of Public Utilities
"Listen there is enough finger pointing but this about finding solutions for the crisis that we are facing. The PUC has the authority under law as the regulator and they have the authority to fix prices at an electricity rate based on representations made by BEL so I think it is unfair to point the finger in the direction of the PUC."
