Dear Editor,
As our parliament debates the pros and cons of the national budget for 2026 there is a pressing issue affecting the residents of Lethem and its immediate environs which is the continued high electricity bills. This is despite the township being served by three renewable energy sources. For those who may not know, the government invested heavily in renewable energy – a solar farm and two hydroelectric dams – to serve the residents of Lethem and its immediate environs. For this we are very thankful.
At the time of introducing these projects, and justifying the high costs to develop these projects, government officials boasted that Lethem residents would experience a major drop in electricity rates. None other than the Honourable PM himself stated the above facts. All three alternative energy sources should now be fully operational, since they were formally opened before the last elections, and integrated into the power grid. Residents waited expectantly for the “major drop” in electricity rates but this hasn’t yet borne fruit. If anything, costs continue to rise. Residents aren’t certain of the reason why this hasn’t happened since local officials are mum on this issue.
Here’s hoping the minister responsible for energy, PM Mark Phillips, addresses this issue and offers a timeline as to when relief from the high energy costs will be felt. If not, many will start doubting the utterances of government officials. Let’s also not forget that a much bigger energy project is on the horizon. If these much smaller alternative energy projects aren’t bringing the promised relief then what is there to convince citizens that the bigger, much more expensive Gas-to-Shore project will bring down electricity costs as promised?