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Today, John Avery, the PUC Chairman explained how they arrived at that figure:..

John Avery, PUC Chairman
"Increasing the threshold for the social rate from 50 kilowatt hours to 60 kilowatt hours per month, and we expect, it's just an estimate; it's something we would have to review with BEL going forward. We expect that should add about a thousand customers to the social rate class."

Jules Vasquez
"What will be paid per kilowatts?"

John Avery, PUC Chairman
"The new rate is 24 cents. Previously they were paying 26 cents, but there is a minimum bill of $4.00 so if you use less than the amount of kilowatt house that will exceed $4.00, you still pay $4.00."

Jules Vasquez
"We've interviewed you a number of times; you usually broadcasted since the rate was blocked on January 2009. That was significant decrease, I think 9 percent."

John Avery, PUC Chairman
"That was more like 15 percent, 12 to 15 percent, I can't recall exactly, but it was around that range. "

Jules Vasquez
"It was a huge decrease, it never was effected and since then the meter has been running, BEL has been, as we understand it, accumulating money that really was owed to consumers. So where is that money now? "

John Avery, PUC Chairman
"Jules and I think I answer this question previously but we set rate in that decision up to 2009. That decision was effected up to June 30th, 2009. With respect to the CPRSA, the rates and the regulated value like the cost of power components of the rates. So we had never set anything for the periods there after."

Jules Vasquez
"I am completely lost forgive me, indulge me. Do they owe us or they don't owe us?"

John Avery, PUC Chairman
"They owed 23.1 million dollars at the end of June 30th, 2009. That is factored in the rates going forward; that helped reduce the rates."

Jules Vasquez
"Good."

John Avery, PUC Chairman
"But the amount isn't 50 million dollars that is what I am saying."

Jules Vasquez
"Ok, but I got that figure from you."

John Avery, PUC Chairman
"No you got that figure from BEL, we had an interview right here when I was explaining to you, that figure was not from me that figure that figure is from BEL."

We stress that the new rate package is only the PUC's initial decision - and it can still be objected to by BEL or interested parties representing 10% of electricity usage.

So will BEL object? Today a company spokesperson told us that quote, "It is important that BEL understands the underlying assumptions of the PUC's decision. To this end we will be providing the PUC with more information, and we have asked for a meeting with the commission."

Sure sounds like they are hedging, but, we note that today the Prime Minister announced it as a done deal, no less than a new year's gift - with the new rates to go into effect on February the first.

We'll see how that goes, but the process so far has been revealing. According to Chairman Avery, they've gotten unprecedented disclosure and access from BEL which has illuminated a few dubious practices of the former owners:..

John Avery, PUC Chairman
"We did have better access to information this time which means we had a lot more information to deal with. And so now we could verify that a lot of what we had suspected was happening inappropriately was in fact happening, and so we had far more issues to deal with this time. We had far more things to consider; like for example, what we found is when BEL orders transformers they capitalize them immediately as they reach Belize."

Jules Vasquez
"As they reached at the Port?"

John Avery
"We basically, under our rate setting methodology, we say you are to get a return on useful assets, assets that are being used that are providing services to consumers. If you have transformers sitting in your stores compound 2-3 years that isn't providing a benefit to consumers and so..."

Jules Vasquez
"I am told they had over 100 transformers."

John Avery
"I can't tell you by numbers but base of the figures we are seeing there are tens of millions of dollars over the years invested in transformers, and there are people here who have worked with BEL - had major roles with BEL and they believe that BEL needs to purchase all that amount of transformers every year."