Bermuda’s draft National Electricity Sector Policy sets out to tackle a clear challenge: delivering electricity that is more affordable, more reliable and less dependent on imported fuels.

That ambition is right.

But the policy feels more like a cautious reset than a decisive step forward — and in doing so, it risks missing one of the most powerful tools already available to Bermuda: distributed generation.

There is a growing narrative that rooftop solar, while beneficial, is contributing to rising costs for those who do not have it. That concern deserves attention. Equity matters.

But the policy leans too heavily toward managing the perceived downsides of distributed generation — and not enough toward unlocking its full potential.

If equity is the concern, the answer is not to weaken solar. It is to expand access to it.

Today, access is uneven. Not everyone owns a roof. Not everyone can finance a system. That is a real issue — but it is not caused by solar. It is caused by the absence of the mechanisms that would allow broader participation.

Community solar, shared ownership and accessible financing have been discussed in Bermuda for years. The policy acknowledges them again — but stops short of committing to when or how they will be delivered.

That is a missed opportunity.

These solutions have been constrained not by lack of ideas but by the legislative framework. If equity is to be more than an objective, enabling legislation cannot remain aspirational. It must be prioritised and progressed alongside the policy itself. The question is no longer what to do — it is when it will be done.

Without that, the policy risks using equity as a reason for caution, while delaying the very reforms that would solve the problem.

The same pattern appears in how distributed generation is framed more broadly.

There is a clear focus on system stability and cost recovery. Bermuda’s grid must remain reliable and it must be funded fairly. But that should not lead us to treat distributed generation primarily as a constraint to be managed.

Because it is not.

Every solar installation reduces fuel imports and exposure to global price volatility. It represents private capital — Bermudian households and businesses investing directly in national infrastructure. And in an island system with no interconnection, it adds resilience that centralised systems alone cannot.

These are not marginal benefits. They go to the heart of affordability and energy security.

Yes, distributed generation introduces complexity. It requires planning, co-ordination and system design. It does not remove the need for firm, dispatchable power.

But complexity is not a reason to slow progress — it is a reason to manage it better.

As has been noted in this paper and elsewhere, Bermuda must move beyond treating centralised and distributed energy as rivals. The modern grid is about orchestration — rooftop solar, batteries, demand response, electric vehicles and utility-scale assets working together as a single system.

To date, however, the emphasis has leaned more toward reinforcing centralised, fuel-backed solutions than toward fully integrating distributed resources as managed system assets.

That is another missed opportunity.

If affordability is truly the goal, we must also consider long-term risk. Greater reliance on fossil fuel-based infrastructure, such as LNG, may offer short-term certainty, but it leaves Bermuda exposed to volatile global markets and the risk of locking the system into a particular path. Once built, these assets create economic and political pressure to keep them fully utilised and paid off, even when cleaner, lower-cost alternatives such as solar are available.

Distributed solar — especially when paired with storage and smarter system design — offers a way to reduce that exposure over time.

This is not an argument against centralised infrastructure. It is an argument against over-reliance on any single approach.

Bermuda’s energy future will be strongest if it:

• Maintains reliability

• Ensures fair contribution

• Expands access to clean energy

• Attracts private investment

• Steadily reduces dependence on imported fuels

Distributed generation is not peripheral to that vision — it is central to it.

The policy process now under way is an opportunity to move beyond cautious alignment and toward practical delivery.

Because the real risk is not that solar moves too quickly. It is that we move too slowly in enabling more Bermudians to benefit from it.

• Robbie Godfrey is the chief executive officer of solar energy company BE Solar