Pastor Claude O. Skelton-Cline during the August 25, 2026, airing of Honestly Speaking. Photo: Facebook

Pastor Claude O. Skelton-Cline said in March or April 2026, he advised that the price of fuel up to two million gallons should be locked in and reserved for the purpose of the Virgin Islands. Photo: Internet Source

BVI Electricity Corporation (BVIEC) customers received bills significantly higher than their average monthly bills in August reflecting energy usage for July. BVIEC said the increase is as a result of increased fuel surcharge which occurred after government’s three month subsidy had ended. Photo: BVIEC

“As early as March or April, I said to the head of the BVIEC, I said to us as a people on this programme, that we should lock in the price for fuel up to some two million gallons worth of fuel and reserve it for the purpose of this country.”

BVI Electricity Corporation (BVIEC) customers received bills significantly higher than their average monthly bills in August, reflecting energy usage for July. BVIEC said the increase is as a result of an increased fuel surcharge, which occurred after the government’s three-month subsidy had ended. 

‘Some of you think I’m crazy’

“See, some you all think I’m crazy, but one of these days, in the not too distant future from now, you’re going to wish that you listened to Claude Skelton-Cline…I’m saying that as one of the persons in this country who tried to come before you weekly, for no other reason but to have an honest conversation about the state of affairs in this country.”

He explained that earlier this year, his advice to the BVIEC and government to lock in the price of fuel fell on deaf ears. 

Locking in the price of fuel, he said, would have been one of the ways the Virgin Islands would have braced for the blow it now faces. Those he spoke to, he said, informed him that they were not worried as there were enough reserves. “How in the sheggedy, you have enough reserves, here we are now in August.”

Fuel price fixed but electricity bills doubled?

Skelton-Cline read out someone’s electricity bills, which had been around $400 from April to June but increased significantly to over $800; the fuel surcharge on that bill was over $500. 

“How she gone pay it, single woman, three kids. How you gone get it done…So the surcharge is more than the actual bill. People are out here hurting. This is a state of emergency, and I tried to warn us.”

He said this is also occurring in the middle of the Atlantic Hurricane Season and at a time when the fuel supplier for the country has a monopoly. 

“They tell us that we have a fixed price in the contract we have. How the hell do we have a fixed price when I still have a variation? It’s madness for somebody who's not paying attention or for somebody who is. The price ain’t fixed; it’s all a game.”