Electricity prices in Antigua and Barbuda will remain stable for now despite rising global oil prices, Utilities Minister Melford Nicholas said, noting that the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) is absorbing fuel-related increases in the short term.
“We are holding prices stable for now,” Nicholas said in an interview with state media, adding that while global energy markets remain volatile, APUA has opted not to pass on those costs to consumers.
He warned, however, that the situation could change if oil prices rise significantly. “We wouldn’t be able to say if the problem exacerbates and, let’s say, a barrel of oil were to go to $200, what impact that may have,” Nicholas said. “But as it stands now, APUA is going to hold the line for a while longer.”
Nicholas said the approach mirrors measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the government and the utilities provider worked together to shield consumers from external economic shocks.
“We are aligned with the government in terms of keeping the inflationary impact of these external shocks away from the population for the time being,” he added.
Looking beyond short-term relief, Nicholas pointed to renewable energy expansion as the long-term solution to high electricity costs. Plans include rehabilitating a solar plant near V.C. Bird International Airport and developing an additional facility in the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium area. The projects are expected to strengthen energy resilience and introduce battery storage into the grid.
The government is also targeting up to 50 megawatts of solar energy production over the next three to four years.
“That really will take a bite out of the cost that we have for purchasing fuel,” Nicholas said.
He cited Barbuda’s hybrid energy system as a model, noting it has already achieved about 25% savings in fuel consumption. Replicating similar efficiencies in Antigua could yield savings of roughly $60 million for APUA, he said.
Electricity production costs in Antigua remain among the highest in the region, estimated at about US$0.42 per unit — significantly higher than in oil-producing countries, where costs can fall below US$0.10. Nicholas said high energy costs continue to affect multiple sectors, including water production and infrastructure development.
He pointed to a new health facility under development that will incorporate renewable energy systems to offset operational expenses.
Nicholas expressed confidence that reducing reliance on fossil fuels will not only stabilize electricity costs but also improve economic competitiveness and deliver environmental benefits.
“If we can remove our dependence on fossil fuels, we will see wider economic benefits and positive environmental impacts,” he said.
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This is the hypocrital party you voted for. Of course they will keep the rates low until they win the elections again. The rates will go up when the ignorant voters put them back in again.
This is the hypocritical party that attends all the international green summits to learn new ideas about reducing the carbon footprint but severly limits us to set up a solar network to go green. Their excuse is to make sure the diesel generators have the funds to keep their carbon footprint operational. They must be charging those that can afford it and the rest no electricity bill.
This is the hypocritical party talking about removing their independence on fossil fuels yet they holding us back in installing solar systems to do just that.
This is the hypocritical party that all of a sudden stopped giving credits to the people who put energy back in the electrical grid that was harvested from solar power.
And yet idiots still vote them in again. It’s time voters stop thinking about all the blatant bribes in the forms of driver’s license, turkey, bicycle, ham, TV, turkey, microwave and the rest. They using our tax dollars and bribing us.
Look at our roads, they are so bad, they mash up our vehicles every day and who has to pay to fix them, we. When we bring in the parts to fix our vehicles which the roads govt is responsible for maintaining, we get over taxed on the same parts. That’s the hypocritical govt you voted in does in exchange for your vote.
Your vote is bigger than that and is more important for the betterment of our country.
Until after the election
This is not even a reprieve. Before the upheaval in the Middle East, oil tapped out at US $67 per barrel and we were paying EC $14.25 per imperial gallon for gasoline, which was, and still is, amongst the highest in the region so what were they planning if an election wasn’t imminent? The Money-Hawk has always emphasized that he never let a crisis pass without benefitting.
I WILL BET MY LAST PENNY HAPANEY THAT AFTER THE ELECTION PRICES WILL GO UP. MIGHT NOT BE IN A FEW WEEKS BUT IT WILL GO UP, AND CONSUMERS WILL START GET CUT OFF LEFT, RIGHT AND CENTER. GASTON REALIZES HE HAS TURNED MOST OF US INTO IDIOTS
Mr melford would you just tell the people of antigua and Barbuda that APUA pays for all the fuels for Hadeed power plant and still get charged some exorbitant rates whether APUA uses the power or not, so when they take off power in some areas and reduce their kilowatts hour consumption they are still charged a set rate, so it isn’t a mutual agreement on the tax payers behalf, and APUA find itself lacking in techniques to work without taking off the power so that they could have hold Hadeed accountable for down time of engines.
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