Good afternoon members of the public and the media,
I am very happy that you are here today to witness this press conference.
I am here today to speak about the recently announced Fuel Adjustment Rate or FAR increase.
Hearing about the increase earlier this week, on October 4th, I was given an official appraisal of the FAR increase and the decrease in the Feed-In Tariff, or FIT. Later that day, I responded to the press expressing my concern and now take this opportunity to share what the Ministry of Home Affairs is actively pursuing.
As transparency is vital to this process, I am happy to share the questions posed to the Regulatory Authority or RA with the public. The chief goal of those questions is to understand more fully the methodology used to determine the various rates. We need to be sure that the RA has considered all relevant parts of the act and exercised due diligence.
Though my observations and experience with the RA, they have consistently shown that it operates with the utmost integrity, we want to ensure that integrity and thoroughness of approach have continued with these recent decisions to dispel any doubt. To that end, we are also looking at both the requirements of the Regulatory Authority Act 2011 and those of the Electricity Act 2016. The goal is to ensure the RA is living up to its responsibilities according to the law.
We are also exploring what legal options are available for us to pursue should there have been any error of law discovered through our inquiry. I note that this process of discovery will take some time, and we look forward to updating the public in due course.
With this said, this is no mere rattling of a sabre. If there are errors in law, the RA will be held accountable and the mistakes rectified. Bermuda's people, economy, and environment deserve no less.
Thank you.