The Minister of Home Affairs, the Hon. Alexa Lightbourne, JP, MP, is aware of the ongoing commentary regarding the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).
Today, Minister Lightbourne said, “The Regulatory Authority approved and published the last Integrated Resource Plan in June 2019. On BELCO’s own account, work on the next plan began in late 2022 and was still unresolved in 2026, in a sector where comparable jurisdictions complete a planning cycle in 12 to 24 months. Bermuda waited seven years between approved plans. Families paid for that wait in every bill.
“The Electricity Amendment Act 2026 provides for suspension and reconstitution of the IRP process whether or not any part of that process has been completed. The suspension exists so that the Government's electricity policy, now nearing completion, is finalised and the plan that follows aligns with it. The plan in operation immediately before a suspension order continues in effect until a successor is approved and published once the suspension ends, and the Authority must give notice of resumption and next steps. Parliament anticipated this circumstance and legislated for it.
“The Government acts in the public interest and will align the energy transition with national policy. Algonquin’s own acquisition fact sheet, published in June 2019 (see attached), records why that policy must set the direction. At purchase, the owner made its own pledges. It pledged that ‘no changes to management or operations staffing are expected’.
“It pledged a focus on growing renewable energy in Bermuda and projected lower energy costs from that integration. It recorded a workforce of approximately 370. Seven years later, BELCO counts more than 250 Bermudian employees after publicly reported staff reductions. Fossil fuels supplied 91 per cent of Bermuda’s electricity in 2025. Residential customers face a rate restructuring in August. Those employees keep the lights on in every parish and have my full respect. The record now measures the pledges made to them and to customers at acquisition.
“The Act places the reconstituted process with the Regulatory Authority, the body best placed to lead it. That process is anchored in the national policy Bermudians elected this Government to deliver, with affordability protections written into the plan itself. The Ministry will finalise the National Electricity Sector Policy 2026, and the reconstituted process will proceed under it.”
