On November 11, 2026, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) of Belize confirmed it has not reached a final ruling on a formal application from Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) that would double the existing Cost of Power Adjustment (COPA) from 5% to 10% for all end users. The pending regulatory review unfolds against a backdrop of mounting operational strain for the national power utility, which has been forced to ramp up costly diesel-powered generation to prevent widespread blackouts amid recurring supply shortfalls from its primary cross-border provider in Mexico.
Leroy Almendarez, Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of National Security, Energy and Ports, detailed that BEL’s monthly expenditure on diesel-fueled power generation currently ranges between $1.4 million and $2 million, a sharp unplanned uplift that has stretched the utility’s operating budgets thin. The COPA mechanism, designed to pass through fluctuating wholesale power procurement costs to consumers in a regulated, transparent framework, is calibrated against a six-month rolling average of BEL’s combined power purchase costs from its diverse supplier base, which includes Mexico’s CFE, Hydro Belize, BSI, and Santander Co-Generation, anchored to a baseline reference cost of roughly 30 cents per kilowatt-hour. The proposed doubling of the COPA rate would translate to an increase from approximately 1.5 cents to 3 cents per kilowatt-hour on monthly consumer bills, a shift Almendarez acknowledged would place additional financial burden on households already grappling with a prolonged national cost-of-living crunch. He emphasized that the utility requires stable, predictable cash flow to maintain uninterrupted payments to all its power suppliers and avoid disruptions to grid operations.
Parallel to the domestic regulatory proceedings, Belize energy officials have advanced landmark negotiations with their Mexican counterparts to resolve longstanding power supply frictions. During a technical working session held on October 30, Mexican authorities presented a structured payment plan for outstanding arrears owed by BEL, a proposal Almendarez confirmed the utility has the capacity to fulfill. The two nations have also signed off on a bilateral information-sharing framework that will establish dedicated cross-border working groups to exchange real-time data on power demand projections and supply capacity constraints. This new system is set to deliver early alerts of impending supply cuts, giving Belize sufficient lead time to activate its domestic backup generation assets before service interruptions occur. Belizean representatives have also formally submitted a request to Mexico to increase its maximum permitted power export volume beyond the current 55 megawatt cap, in a bid to reduce reliance on expensive diesel generation over the long term.
Almendarez noted that diesel will remain the primary stopgap power source for at least the next six months, as the country works through near-term supply volatility. Longer-term, BEL has outlined a scheduled solar and battery storage capacity expansion project slated for full deployment in 2027 to diversify the national energy mix and cut exposure to volatile fossil fuel costs. In a public statement to local outlet News 5 on Tuesday, Prime Minister John Briceño reiterated a key government safeguard, confirming that the administration will not permit BEL to pass the full brunt of elevated diesel generation costs directly to residential consumers, as the PUC continues its deliberations over the proposed COPA adjustment.