September 3. 2013Dear SirIn March last year my husband and I moved into a lovely two-bedroom apartment in Pembroke. We were so happy to have found a gorgeous two-bedroom for our budget of $2,600. Unfortunately later that month our first bill arrived from Belco — $1,088.76.According to their ‘readings’ we had used enough power in our first month to operate a small coffee shop, which trust me sir, we had not.It only continued to grow more dire with each passing month. Waiting for the Belco bill became a game of Russian roulette. “Will we be eating rice and peas this month, or will we have enough money to buy chicken to go with that?”The bills kept coming — never less than $500, sometimes as high as $800. Even in the winter.Now I need to explain that my husband and I do not have the air conditioners blasting all day and night. We do laundry once a week. We have energy efficient cooking appliances to save us from always having to use the stove.We thought the fridge/freezer must be broken. Why else would the bills be so high. So after asking, the landlady replaced the fridge/freezer. The end of that month the bill was over $800.We don’t have a swimming pool. We only turn our water heater on once a day for ½ hour and then turn it off again. We don’t use the dishwasher, even though there is one. We don’t even dare use the self-cleaning oven because goodness knows what that will cost.At my wits end I put a call into Belco. This was last year following another $800 bill.I was told that they do not send people out to check metres. I had to pay for an electrician to do that, write up a report which would then be submitted to my landlady and then to Belco — should the fault lie with them. That doesn’t guarantee they’ll fix whatever the issue is.Sir, I know people are struggling right now. Many, including me, are unemployed and I can only imagine how terrifying it must be to receive a Belco bill in the mail that can’t possibly be right.Belco’s mission is “ … to provide a secure, reliable and sustainable electric power system for the people of Bermuda.”How can $800 power bills for a two-bedroom apartment be reliable, secure or even sustainable? It is not.I just wanted to vent about this and thank you for your time. If anyone else in Bermuda finds themselves in the same situation as us, I am so sorry. I feel your frustration. There’s nothing worse in this world that having the power to do something positive for your family taken away from you.Perhaps we can start a club called “Powerless” and thank Belco for their support and understanding by switching to gas.Thank you SirPowerless in Pembroke