Dear Editor
Would you please print this letter in your prestigious daily. Thank you. I am writing in regards to my power bill at Grand Bahama Power Company. As with most residents of Grand Bahama,I am a customer of GB Power. We have no alternatives here. Whatever GB Power charge me,I have to accept. It makes little difference protesting the high cost of electricity at the power company. Like most Grand Bahamians,I struggle to make ends meet. Sometimes I have to go without because of the exorbitant cost of living in Grand Bahama. It appears as if Freeport was only built for the wealthy and the middleclass. This city wasn’t designed for poor people.
Right now in Grand Bahama we desperately need a regulatory board to keep an eye on the local power company. A regulatory board could put in place a limit that GB Power could charge its customers.
The principals at the power company seems to charge you whatever comes to their mind. It is my humble opinion that they are charging Grand Bahamians arbitrarily. Just last month my power bill was just over $264. The month prior to that it was around $260. This month I was charged over $300. I can’t understand how my power bill got so high. Hardly anyone is home throughout the day to burn electricity. Moreover,only 4 persons live in my house. Yet my power bill is inching closer and closer to my mortgage payment. One of my friends who lives in a duplex apartment near Midshipman Road told me that GB Power charged him over $4000 for one month. He went to the office and protested. Thankfully,he was able to get that issue resolved. But it appears that many Grand Bahamians are not as fortunate.
I am just upset that GB Power could treat the residents of Grand Bahama in such a shoddy fashion. The principals at the power company know that many Grand Bahamians are barely surviving nowadays. They know that the economy in Grand Bahama is anemic,yet they continue to ratchet up the cost of their service. They act as if the economy in Grand Bahama is booming. I have heard several persons complain about their astronomical power bills. One gentleman told me that his power bill was over $700. He lives in a very small three bedroom house in the Hudson Estates area.
Another gentleman from Eight Mile Rock told me that his power bill was over $500. Both of these men were stressed out at the high cost of electricity GB Power is charging its customers. One other gentleman from Eight Mile Rock told me that his electric bill was over $330. What is so astounding about his bill is the fact that he lives in a small wooden house. Needless to say, I was simply surprised that GB Power would charge him so high. One other gentleman told me that his power bill for his home is around $900 every month. His power bill for his little business is $1500 a month.
Right now in Grand Bahama the citizens are desperately in need of some relief. We need our Members of Parliament to come out of the closet and address this vexing situation. They need to speak out for us. They need to explain to Grand Bahamians why GB Power is allowed to charge its customers such exorbitant rates.
Everyone is saying that the crime situation and the recession are the two major issues that will be addressed during the political campaign season. However,I believe that the high cost of electricity will also be a major factor in the upcoming election in Grand Bahama. We have a lot of persons living without power in Grand Bahama.They simply cannot afford to keep up with the high rates at GB Power. I had seen several young men plead with the cashiers at the power company’s office on Pioneers Way to turn their power back on.
I know of a young woman from Eight Mile Rock who was living in darkness for a short time. Her bill at GB Power was around $800. Another lady in Freeport told an acquaintance of mine that she has been living without power for months. She now uses candle for light. The lady also said that she doesn’t care about turning her power back on anytime soon. She cannot afford to pay the bill. She has accepted her new way of living. Unfortunately,her story is all too common on Grand Bahama nowadays. Many persons have resigned themselves to the fact that they just cannot afford electricity in Grand Bahama anymore.Living without power is now their new way of living in the 21st century Bahamas.
These are just a small sample of Grand Bahamians who have been forced to live without electricity because of GB Power’s exorbitant power rates. It is simply heartrending that we have so many persons living among us who are no better off than the underprivileged citizens of Third World countries,yet we continue to call The Bahamas a modern country.
I am therefore pleading with the principals at GB Power to go down on their power rate. Many of us are simply unable to pay your exorbitant power rates. I am also pleading with the Members of Parliament to speak out for us. We need help!
Yours truly,
Kevin Evans
Sorry to say but fuck this place for there power. A power bill in the US is $150 for running AC all the time. Here u know for having the AC on once, and hardly using lights its over $700. WTF is wrong with this country fr. This is fucking bullshit amd should be illegal to do in the first place. I hate this county know fuck this fr.
Cuz sorry to say but no one will pay that either. This county’s government doesn’t know how to run a country
GBPC is definately over billing it’s customers. Anyone interested in a class action lawsuit? They will need to account for all the overcharges and reemburse all overcharges back to their customers. On top pay all court costs and lawyers fees.
Ha didn’t hear all this commotion when the Guvment took our money and subsidised GB Power company, but that was when Grand Bahamians was in the bosom of the beast.
Now they get bite ah Lord!
Write ya damn five MPs and tell them either get it right or get lost! Try that cause nothing else ga change
GB power has a monopoly on electricity under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement so alternative power is out of the question. Definitely the government should do an investigation and if the people in Grand Bahama are being overcharged for services, make them accountable for it. They are getting away with overcharging on everything now. The people of freeport are being hung out to dry by the GB power and its co-horts and everyone seem powerless to help them.
It’s True before the summer started my light bill was around $170.00 July it went up to $289.00 the fuel is more than the usage and when I called I got turned around, so i went there and sure enough theey told me that’s the bill and I have to pay ever since it’s been like $295 I asked them if they charging me because they see the central unit in my yard and assume that I am using AC, but keepin it real I only use it like 3 times a month, i’m afraid that If I do the bill might be over $1,000 and I already can’t afford the $200 plus bills. I honestly believe that they are pulling numbers out the sky and we have to pay whatever they feel like gharging us.
Someone definitely needs to look into G.B Power. My bill is over $900 and the Fuel Surcharge is more than the usage bill. A regular bill should have a built in fuel charge in it. I think what they are now doing is double dipping. The entire fuel charge is pass to the customer even though their is a built in component for fuel,plant and equipment,operations and profit. The fuel component now goes towards their profit.
Notice Eddie BP is the only news organization focusing on the ISSUES AFFECTING THE PEOPLE! EVERYONE ELSE TALKING HORSE DUNG!
BP
Everytime school is about to open Freeport Power goes up on the power and it’s all because The Power company pays there employees children half off school fees with our monies it never comes out off there pocket it comes out off ours (the customers)full oof *****
I agree, GB Power Bills are simply ridiculous and something need to be done ASAP, the only persons not complaining about it are GBPA Presidents, my power bill last month was $400.00 this month is $850.00… and only 2 persons in a duplex, it all boils down to us paying for there million dollar plant….
I also agree, something must be done!!! How long must Grand Bahamians suffer from this vexing problem from being over charged with their electricity bill before the government step in and do something. I live in a duplex with one other person and there is no one at home doing the day and my bill this month was almost $500. There is no one at home from 8am to 5pm. I cut off the water heater and start pluging everything before I leave home in the morning and that didn’t help. Remember that when the Government refuse to help when their people when they cry out then its time for them to go.
I can’t believe what I am reading. I live in Nassau and we have our issues with BEC but those you are quoting in GB bills are unbelievable. This is why even though there are issues with government agencies I feel that electricity and water need to be controlled by government to give the public some relief in hard times like these. The nature of a private company is to focus on its bottom line which is its profit. The government’s job is to manage the country which includes giving relief to the public when it is needed.
I can only suggest that Grand Bahamians look into alternative energy resources to help with this problem; or does GBPA not allow the connection of alternative energy sources…
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