A plan to help navigate the challenges facing Bermuda’s electricity system, which was published this month, will “continue in effect”, the Ministry of Home Affairs has said.

Clarification had been sought by Belco and Dwayne Robinson, an opposition MP, after the Integrated Resource Plan was suspended on July 6.

The IRP had been approved and published to the Regulatory Authority’s website three days earlier.

Alexa Lightbourne, the Minister of Home Affairs, said in the House of Assembly on Friday that the plan was paused for a period of up to 18 months.

The IRP compares long‑term resource pathways and identifies a preferred strategic direction that aims to balance affordability, reliability, sustainability and flexibility under uncertainty. It does not approve specific projects or commit to fixed investments.

After Ms Lightbourne’s announcement, Mr Robinson, the shadow home affairs minister, asked questions, noting that the latest plan was already on the Regulatory Authority’s website.

Meanwhile, Belco released a statement to correct “inaccuracies about the plan’s timeline” and the company’s role in its development.

The electricity distributor also asked whether the 2026 IRP still stood as published.

In response, Ms Lightbourne, the Minister of Home Affairs, explained the reasons for the suspension and said the 2026 IRP would “continue in effect”.

She told The Royal Gazette: “The Regulatory Authority approved and published the last Integrated Resource Plan in June 2019.

“On Belco’s own account, work on the next plan began in late 2022 and was still unresolved in 2026, in a sector where comparable jurisdictions complete a planning cycle in 12 to 24 months.

“Bermuda waited seven years between approved plans. Families paid for that wait in every bill.”

She added: “The Electricity Amendment Act 2026 provides for suspension and reconstitution of the IRP process whether or not any part of that process has been completed.

“The suspension exists so that the Government's electricity policy, now nearing completion, is finalised and the plan that follows aligns with it.

“The plan in operation immediately before a suspension order continues in effect until a successor is approved and published once the suspension ends, and the authority must give notice of resumption and next steps.

“Parliament anticipated this circumstance and legislated for it.”

She said the Government was acting in the public interest to align the energy transition with national policy.

Ms Lightbourne added that the Act would place the reconstituted process with the RA.

Wayne Caines, the president of Belco, said the power supplier followed a prescribed process for determining Bermuda's renewable energy mix, set out in the Electricity Act and carried out through the IRP.

He said: “On July 3, the IRP was approved by the RA, the governing body we take our direction from.

“Once a plan is approved, that matter is closed in law [functus officio]. The minister missed the deadline to act before that happened.”

Mr Caines added that the RA owns the IRP process and the company would continue to take direction from the authority.

He said: “Our strategy has not changed. It remains to provide reliable, sustainable and affordable energy that meets the demands of all our customers.”

Mr Robinson said it was good that the Minister of Home Affairs made her intended path forward clear, but added that the One Bermuda Alliance maintains that granting the minister power to suspend the IRP was the wrong approach.

He questioned whether the minister would be able to reassure Bermudians that they would not be left to foot the bill of any potential legal disputes owing to the suspension nor see further bill increases.

Mr Robinson added: “The One Bermuda Alliance does support placing the RA as the lead on the IRP process, as this would have been our course of action.

“However, we would have brought forward legislation to strengthen the RA. Allowing them more teeth to regulate in the best interest of Bermudians.

“We believe in empowering experts and independent bodies to play their part in policymaking rather than centring all authority around a minister.”