BEL to Submit New Rate Proposal After PUC Rejects Increase

Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) says that it is preparing a new pricing proposal to submit to the Public Utilities Commission, following the PUC’s rejection of a proposed rate increase earlier this month.On April 4, BEL submitted a proposal for an increase of 3 cents per kilowatt hour and the introduction of a new pricing structure, which the PUC denied. BEL issued a statement this weekend welcoming the denial, noting that the Commission’s decision provided the company with some recourse on bringing in another proposal. BEL explained that the PUC’s position on the requested January 2026 rate increase was that this could not be facilitated under an annual rate review proceeding unless further revision is made to the applicable byelaw. The utility company said, quote, “The PUC has, instead, referred BEL to the provision under the regulations that allows BEL to file a mid-period application for tariff adjustment to take effect in January 2026 to recover the variance between the actual cost of power incurred and the cost of power approved by the PUC over past periods. The Company plans to proceed with the mid-period application in December 2025 for rate realignment in January 2026.”  End of quote.  BEL also said that it has already started conducting the necessary market research and analyses to inform the dynamic pricing model that it will propose to the PUC.