By STEPHEN GAY, Guardian Staff Reporter

After experiencing a drop in the Bahamas Electricity Corporation's (BEC) surcharge earlier this month, BEC consumers could expect to see further reductions on their electricity bills, as additional drops in the surcharge are expected well into the first quarter of 2009.

This was revealed by chairman of the BEC board of directors Fred Gottlieb, during an interview with The Nassau Guardian, following a clean-up assessment tour that he led at the Clifton Pier Power Plant yesterday.

This comes as welcomed news to many Bahamians who are not only struggling in the midst of trying economic times but as the holidays approach.

Earlier this month BEC's fuel surcharge dropped to 21.28 cents per kilowatt-hour for the month of November, down from 24.79 cents per kwh back in August when the price peaked.

Gottlieb explained that as international oil prices continue to decline, its important to understand exactly why cost savings are not immediate, because of a time line that must be adhered to.

"We have to store oil. Our inventory has to be stocked up at the price that we bought it at, but you will start seeing noticeable decreases, they have already started to kick in, as you noticed in the last billings," Gottlieb said. "By January you should see some significant decreases in the fuel surcharges.

"I think that we would see this worldwide economic crisis go on well into (2009) if not beyond. And if it does it will again affect the demand for oil, so my guess is that the oil prices will continue to be low."

Electricity bills are made up of the basic rate, which is constant and has not changed since October 2003. The fuel surcharge is based on the price of petroleum on the international market and is calculated monthly using a fixed formula.

The lower fuel surcharge for the month of November is believed to be a direct result of a decrease in oil prices on the international market.

The fuel surcharge had climbed since April 2006 when it was 9.4561 cents per kilowatt hour. Consumers have not paid below 10 cents per kwh since then, with marked increases recorded between May and August 2008 alone.

Officials at the Department of Social Services revealed to The Nassau Guardian recently that nearly 15,000 people on New Providence and Grand Bahama have sought aid from the government since special assistance programs were launched in September.

They said that thousands of Bahamians have been coming forward to take advantage of the government's assistance program with BEC, to have a payment plan worked out for people whose power supply may have been disconnected due to huge balances.

According to State Minister for Social Services Loretta Butler-Turner, to date some 4,600 people came forward for assistance with electricity bills.

"Government was able to assist two-thirds of that number in terms of giving them a payment that they could make to BEC in conjunction with going into arrangements to keep their power on," Butler-Turner said.

This assistance is something that the BEC chairman claims that his board fully supports.

"The board totally supports the government's policy to help those people who need relief with paying their electricity bills," Gottlieb said. "Does it impact BEC? Of course it has to if we are not collecting as much money as we have to, it could because it then affects our revenue base.

"But we are all one country and whether its BEC or an individual we all want to try and help each other and to that extent we fully support the government," he added.