Electricity Bills Just Went Up, Again
Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) is applying a new 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour Cost of Power Adjustment (COPA) to customers’ August 2026 electricity bills following a final decision by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
The adjustment forms part of a new regulatory sandbox established by the PUC to assess BEL’s actual cost of power on a month-by-month basis.
BEL says its actual cost of power over the past six months was 4.3 cents per kWh higher than the reference cost approved by the regulator. However, customers will not absorb the full difference because the sandbox caps monthly COPA adjustments at 1.5 cents per kWh, either upward or downward.
Sponsored by: RF&G Insurance Ltd.: “It Pays to Get it Right”
The charge applies to all customers except those on the Social Rate, who remain fully exempt. It is also exempt from GST and will appear as its own line item on bills rather than folded into the base rate.
Future adjustments are not guaranteed to increase. Depending on BEL’s actual cost of power and PUC approval, the monthly COPA could increase, decrease, remain at zero or result in a rebate.
The company must submit verified financial and operational data to the PUC monthly, with adjustments reassessed each month based on actual cost of power.
BEL says the mechanism is intended to help the company recover the cost of purchasing power while protecting customers from sudden changes in electricity prices.
For August, however, customers outside the Social Rate will see an additional 1.5 cents charged for every kilowatt-hour used.