~2026 budget answers say BTP has finally been activated as supervisor; Government concedes years of regulatory silence left consumers exposed.~
PHILIPSBURG:--- One of the most consequential disclosures buried in Government's responses to Parliament on the 2026 National Budget concerns not a new project or expenditure, but the way electricity consumers have been charged for years.
The Government states that for more than 15 years, no independent external verification of GEBE's fuel-clause calculations occurred before those charges appeared on consumers' electricity bills.
According to the Ministry's response, N.V. GEBE performed the calculations internally, while consumers were expected to accept the resulting figure without an independent regulator checking the underlying calculations before billing.
The disclosure is significant because the fuel clause is one of the most controversial components of electricity bills in Sint Maarten and has been at the center of public complaints about electricity costs.
Government says the historical absence of independent verification is precisely why it appointed the Bureau Telecommunications and Post, BTP, as supervisor under Article 20 of the Electricity Concession Ordinance.
BTP can investigate, Minister must act
The documents also clarify a crucial distinction concerning BTP's authority.
BTP itself does not possess the executive authority to order GEBE to correct a tariff or impose sanctions.
Instead, Government describes BTP as the technical supervisor responsible for auditing, inspecting, and investigating GEBE's operations and financial records. When BTP identifies deficiencies or non-compliance, it submits its findings and recommendations to the responsible Minister.
The Minister then holds the authority under the Electricity Concession Ordinance and concession to issue directives, require corrective action or impose sanctions.
In another response, Government describes BTP as its technical "eyes and ears," while explicitly acknowledging that the supervisor is an investigative and advisory body rather than the enforcement authority.
Government blames 'Historic Regulatory Silence'
The Government's language on previous oversight is unusually strong.
The budget response states that if the Electricity Concession Ordinance and concession had been properly and consistently enforced over the years, electricity bills would have been more sustainable, stable and affordable.
It describes the present situation as the consequence of "historic regulatory silence."
That admission raises an unavoidable question: if the legal framework already existed, why was it not being used?
According to the Government's own response, previous administrations had not activated the supervisory mechanism, leaving the Ministry without independent technical and financial information necessary to establish non-compliance.
Fuel clause cannot become a catch-all
The government also addresses what may legally be included in electricity tariffs.
According to the Ministry, Article 12 of the Electricity Concession Ordinance requires tariffs to be based on actual investments, operational costs and GEBE's financial circumstances.
But the Ministry goes further, stating that the fuel clause cannot legally become a "catch-all" into which GEBE places operational and maintenance inefficiencies and then automatically passes those costs to consumers without independent review.
The Government says fuel-clause calculations are based on fuel-related costs, including the purchase price, freight, throughput fees and other approved components.
No electricity relief money in 2026 budget
Consumers hoping the 2026 Budget would provide direct relief, however, will find none.
Government explicitly states that the country's financial position does not allow it to fund a broad electricity subsidy and that no specific provision for electricity-bill relief has been included in the 2026 Budget.
Instead, Government says it intends to tackle the structural causes of high electricity costs through regulation, efficiency and improved oversight.
A lawful tariff decree, Government says, requires verified cost information from GEBE. Without that information, Government maintains that it cannot legally establish or alter tariffs.
Government is also working on legislation for a multi-sector regulatory authority covering electricity, water and telecommunications.
For consumers, therefore, the central issue emerging from the budget debate is larger than the latest fuel-clause increase.
Government has now put in writing that the fuel clause went for years without independent external verification.
Parliament must now ask what those years of unverified calculations ultimately cost consumers—and whether any past charges will be independently reconstructed and examined.
