Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers’ Confederation (BCCEC) Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Leo Rolle is voicing the concerns of local businesses regarding the cost of electricity.

Dr. Rolle told ZNS News in one instance the energy cost for one family island business rose from approximately $1000 to $10,000. He said, “this is a systematic increase of cost of good and services, the cost of goods and services. And why that’s important is because you may think it’s just one other bill but when you look at this stacked against all of the other things a business has to do. They just had an increase in minimum wage about two years ago, an increase in NIB and they’re eyeing another increase. An increase in the cost of shipping and logistics so to purchase the items but also to ship them. An increase in, as we mentioned, electricity and other ancillary costs but I’m still making the same $10.”

The BCCEC CEO says the organization has secured about 25 free energy audits to find the areas of waste and help businesses to make better energy decisions. Rolle also said they have been invited to attend a meeting with officials of the Ministry of Transport and Energy to discuss the issue.