The General Manager of the BVI Electricity Corporation (BVIEC), Dr Neil M. Smith, has assured that the company does not have a fuel supply problem. Photo: VINO

Sol has a contractual obligation to provide fuel to BVIEC, General Manager of the BVI Electricity Corporation (BVIEC) Dr Neil M. Smith has said. Photo: Sol

According to the General Manager of the BVI Electricity Corporation (BVIEC), Dr Neil M. Smith, the region where the BVIEC gets its fuel from, the Gulf Coast, does not have a fuel supply issue. Photo: Reuters

Dr Smith was responding to a question regarding the supply of fuel during a press briefing with the government on its response to the global fuel crisis and associated rising cost of living on Monday, April 20, 2026. 

He said it is important to note that the BVIEC does not have a fuel supply problem. 

“The region where we get our fuel, which is in the Gulf Coast, doesn’t have an issue with fuel supply. What we have is a problem of markets, so if they see that they’re going to carry the price up, they’re going to bring it up; that’s just business, capitalism, but we don’t have a fuel supply problem.”

Sol has a contractual obligation

Dr Smith added that Sol, the company contracted by the BVIEC to provide fuel, has a contractual obligation to provide fuel. Sol, he explained, provides fuel at “price plus”.

“The price is going up, and that’s where we get caught up, but it’s not a supply at all.”

The fuel comes from the United States, and Dr Smith assured that there is “more than enough fuel” to supply the BVIEC for a “long, long time”. 

“So that’s not an issue; it’s just an issue of how the markets behave after that.”

The Government of the Virgin Islands will be subsidising both residential and commercial customers of BVIEC by $1 million per month for three months, starting immediately.