Dear Sir,

Our utility, Belco, is a monopoly; this is no new truth. This monopoly has one job to do, like any business: to provide a satisfying return to its shareholders year over year. Who pays this return? We, the people of Bermuda, do.

Belco has a proven record showing it has no interest in producing clean energy, no interest in meeting the goals under the 2011 White Paper — whereby we should be creating 30 per cent renewable energy by 2020 — and no interest in meeting the obligations to which we are now committed under the Kyoto Protocol.

Belco would like to build a liquefied natural gas infrastructure in Bermuda, which we would then be bound to for the next 30 years.

How old will you be in 30 years? How old will your child or grandchild be in 30 years? Do we know whether the price of LNG will go up or come down during that period? The point is, we do not know.

Recently, the Bren School of Environmental Science at the University of California performed a feasibility study on wind energy for Bermuda. It was a comprehensive study that concluded: “ ... we can conclude that it is very unlikely that the actual cost of energy from offshore wind power will be greater than current energy prices, even with a substantial markup on a project’s LCOE in a negotiated PPA. Additionally, because the cost of offshore wind energy would remain constant in real dollars for the life of the project, as stated in our assumptions, the cost savings to consumers would likely increase over the life of the project.”

Wind is a viable option for Bermuda, but it is, once again, being dismissed by Belco. What can you, the average consumer, do? Read, understand, and participate in this decision. It is your energy future.

KATHY CERVINO

Livorno, Italy