BEL wants to lower your light bill by 10%! That's what they asked the PUC for in an application today. The new rate would take effect in July, 2015.

The proposal is to lower the average electricity rate from 41.29 cents to 37 cents per kilowatt hour. Now, that's an average rate – between the social rate at the low end and the commercial rate at the high end – so your individual rate may be higher. But BEL is also asking the PUC to give regular consumers a break.

They want to give a greater subsidy to Social Rate customers while passing on most of the savings to Residential and Industrial customers. There would also be a carve out for medium and large manufacturers that are not benefiting from the lower Industrial Rates. BEL also proposes to install additional streetlights in crime hotspots countrywide.

But that's just what they are proposing…the PUC now has to review the application and make a final decision which should be forthcoming in 21 days.

And if you're wondering what's driving prices down…after all, the average rate was just reduced by 5% in January…well, you should look north. Mexico's CFE – which provides just under half of the electricity that Belize uses – has significantly reduced the rate they charge BEL. And that's because CFE has moved away from diesel power generation and is now sourcing power from hydroelectricity and cheaper, cleaner fuels such as natural gas and other renewable energy sources.