By Sherrylyn A Toppin
sherrylynclarke@nationnews.com
Barbadians are paying less for electricity this month, but more at the pump.
While the fuel clause adjustment (FCA) that goes into computing electricity bills has dropped to the lowest level in almost four years, at the same time petroleum prices have risen.
For May, the FCA is listed at 31.7588 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), a decline of 4.8082 cents from the April figure (36.5670) and the lowest since June 2021 when it was 29.9832, the last time it fell below 30 cents.
Conversely, the Ministry of Energy announced on Thursday that the prim of gasoline has increased by six cents to $3.95 per litre and diesel by seven cents to $3.40. Kerosene oil remained unchanged at $1.26 per litre.
Democratic Labour Party spokesperson on energy, small business development, entrepreneurship and housing, Senator Ryan Walters, said he was not surprised and called it a "gross injustice to Barbadians".
Walters said there were two adjustments since Christmas, both increases, despite a global decline in the price of oil ranging from 8.5 to ten per cent between January and April this year.
Cost increases
"This is burdensome because not only is it increasing consumer costs at the pump, but it also increases production costs and the cost of goods and services to consumers," he said.
"The timing of the increase is not lost on .. Coming the day after a victory in the [St James North] by-election smells of arrogance and an uncaring Government that is saying to Barbadians it can do whatever and whenever without conversation and transparency"
The senator and candidate for St Michael North West said prior to 2018, the prices were standardised and the public was made aware of the adjustments on the first Sunday of each month.
"Back then, there was a correlation in increases and decreases at the pump with what was happening in the global environment. It was a fair, transparent process that made sense."
He called on Government to explain the rationale on the adjustments.
"Taxpayers have a right to know since changes are being made sporadic — any day or week of the month. What makes it worse is that the changes bear no correlation to the global environment as it relates to the price of crude oil globally. These actions show that the Government is only willing to pass on increases to the public but will take all the savings when the price of oil drops. This is a gross injustice to Barbadians," Walters said.
While welcoming the ease expected as a result of the lower FCA, the Barbados Consumer Empowerment Network (BCEN) called on both the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) and the Barbados Light & Power Co. Ltd (BL&P) to tell the public what measures were being put in place to guard against sharp increases in the future.
"BCEN recognises the significance of this decrease, but we caution against viewing it as a sign that energy affordability has returned.
Consumers have been grappling with consistently high electricity bills for months, exacerbated by persistent inflation and a rising cost of living across essential sectors," executive director Maureen Holder noted in a statement to the Saturday Sun.
"At present, there are hefty price increases in various retail outlets across the island which cannot be directly attributed to [United States President Donald] Trump's tariffs. Although this drop offers some immediate financial relief, it does not reverse the months of financial strain that consumers have already endured."
Protect consumers
Holder said both the FTC and BL&P needed to tell Barbadian consumers "whether the recent approval for [BL&P] to recover generator rental costs through the FCA has influenced this figure; and what measures are in place to stabilise the FCA going forward to protect consumers from sharp future increases".
The consumer advocate also reiterated the call for transparent calculation and disclosure of all elements within the FCA, stronger oversight to prevent unjustified cost pass-throughs, and a consumer-first approach in the regulation of electricity prices.
Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn did not respond to a query on why the price was reduced at this time, but BL&P said since April 2025, world oil prices "dropped drastically" and in light of the storage maintained by the Barbados National Energy Co. Ltd and the electricity supplier, there was a lag in decreases and increases of the FCA being passed on to customers.
"The FCA is revised monthly according to the fuel costs incurred in electricity generation. These fuel costs are influenced by international oil prices, which [BL&P] has no control over," director (operations) Johann Greaves stated.
"It is important to note, however, that [BL&P] uses a smoothing process when the price of fuel increases drastically to mitigate the impact of the prices on customers. In other words, notwithstanding the international prices, the company does its best to hold prices steady (ensuring some predictability for customers) and to keep the cost as manageable as possible for customers. This essentially absorbs any price shocks to customers."
BL&P also noted changes in the FCA were influenced by the type of fuel used to generate electricity during the month. It added this in turn was impacted by planned maintenance and breakdown maintenance on the units. It noted about 15 per cent of the energy came from renewable resources and was also impacted by weather like the amount of sunlight.