PRESS RELEASE

PRESS RELEASE: STATEMENT OF RESULTS AND FINAL DECISION (ES 12/2020) – CONSULTATION ON THE PROPOSED CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATIONS FOR THE ELECTRICITY SECTOR IN THE BAHAMAS

9 December 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Today, the Utilities Regulations and Competition Authority (“URCA”) as the independent Regulator for the Electricity Sector (ES) in The Bahamas issues this Statement of Results and Final Decision to its Public Consultation Document- Consumer Protection Regulations for the Electricity Sector in The Bahamas [ES/11/2020] pursuant to section 64 of the Electricity Act 2015 (EA).

URCA continues to regulate the ES in accordance with the overarching principles established in the National Energy and Sector Policy. For that reason URCA sought to establish Consumer Protection Regulations for the ES.

On the 28 September 2020, URCA issued its Consultation Document ES 11/2020 with a submission response date of the 28 October 2020. Consequent to comments from key industry stakeholders URCA via Public Notice published on the 30 October 2020 extended the submission response date to the 9 November 2020.

The purpose of this Statement of Results and Final Decision is to:

  1. Outline the Regulatory Framework;
  2. Summarize the written submissions received to the Public Consultation Document [ES 11/2020]- “Consumer Protection Regulations for the Electricity Sector in The Bahamas”;
  3. Provide URCA’s analysis of the submissions made by Stakeholders and Interested Parties;
  4. Set forth URCA’s final Decision.

URCA simultaneously publishes the Consumer Protection Regulations for the Electricity Sector in the Bahamas [ES 13/2020].

URCA thanks the Respondents for their participation in the Public Consultation process. Interested Parties can obtain a copy of both the Statement of Results and the Consumer Protection Regulation from URCA’s website.