BPL Borrowing From Government Soars to $381.9 Million Dollars

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NASSAU , BAHAMAS – The Ministry of Finance has released its Quarter Four Public Debt Statistical Bulletin for the 2025/2026 fiscal year, and the numbers show that Bahamas Power and Light’s borrowing from the government has risen sharply.

In March of this year, BPL owed the government 220.7 million dollars.

By the end of June, that debt had climbed to 287.2 million dollars, an increase of 66.5 million dollars in just three months.

But the figures over the past four years tell an even bigger story.

The report shows that in June 2022, BPL’s debt stood at 179 million dollars, but at the end of the 2025/2026 fiscal year, that figure had more than doubled, rising to 381.9 million dollars.

So, what’s behind the borrowing?

Government has not publicly provided a specific breakdown for the loans, but the Davis administration has previously pointed to BPL’s significant financial and infrastructure challenges.

Back in April, Prime Minister Philip Davis released this statement, saying when they came into office, BPL was saddled with more than 500 million dollars in total debt, and that they had to urgently loan the company 100 million dollars just to keep it afloat.

In fact, you may also recall that back in 2024, then Energy and Transport Minister Jobeth Coleby-Davis made this statement in Parliament.

Jobeth Coleby-Davis – Former Minister, Energy and Transport

“The next five years BPL will need an investment of over $500 million to upgrade its infrastructure. That’s $300 million for new generation in New Providence. In the Family Islands, $130 million in transmission and distribution, and in New Providence, in the next two years alone, $35 million in advanced meters and infrastructure and $70 million in other costs.”

That’s more than a billion dollars.

But infrastructure isn’t the company’s only financial challenge.

BPL has also struggled to fully recover its fuel costs, despite increased fuel charges under its glide path mechanism, prompting the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority in July to signal regulatory action aimed at overhauling how fuel costs are passed on to consumers.

Now, all of this comes as BPL remains under intense public scrutiny, from claims of overtime abuse to the frequent power outages that continue to frustrate customers across the country.