PHILIPSBURG--Democratic Party (DP) Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams says she has drafted legislation to establish a social electricity tariff but is awaiting information from the government before formally tabling the proposal in Parliament.
Providing an update to The Daily Herald on the matter, Wescot-Williams said she requested documents from the government, including the formal decree establishing the electricity tariff and any decree changing the tariff, after her own research failed to locate them.
“My own searches yielded nothing,” Wescot-Williams said. “I was asked to await the 'investigation' by BTP [Bureau Telecommunications and Post St. Maarten]."
She also said she has submitted multiple formal requests to the government concerning NV GEBE. "Between the ministries, I have four to five formal requests regarding GEBE. Asking about the application of relief without a formal decree etc. etc."
According to Wescot-Williams, obtaining the requested information is important because of Parliament's legislative responsibilities. "Because of our co-legislative role, it is prudent to have a good view of government's position and or intentions when drafting laws/amendments."
Wescot-Williams said under the Electricity Ordinance, NV GEBE cannot apply different electricity tariffs unless they have been established by government decree. As a result, she said GEBE must continue charging the existing tariff until it is formally changed by the government.
According to Wescot-Williams, GEBE currently compensates for this by separating fuel costs and charging a fuel clause, although she noted that some have questioned whether the utility is legally permitted to impose the fuel clause unilaterally.
In December 2025, Wescot-Williams announced that she intended to table an amendment to the electricity concession law to create a structural legal basis for social electricity tariffs.
At the time, she said the amendment would establish formal categories for lower electricity tariffs for vulnerable households, special rates for institutions such as schools, and clear rules requiring the government to compensate GEBE when tariffs are set below the company's production costs.
However, she stressed that the amendment could only move forward once the government provided answers to several legal questions surrounding the current tariff-setting framework.
Among the issues raised were which minister is legally responsible for setting electricity tariffs, whether the national decree establishing GEBE's tariffs exists, and the legal basis for the fuel clause charged to consumers.
Wescot-Williams had also sought public answers through a Question Hour of Parliament, saying transparency was needed before structural changes to the tariff system could be finalised.
She previously said she was awaiting the most recent decrees establishing tariffs, the legal basis for the fuel clause, and the government's position on social tariffs before finalising and tabling her amendment.
Parliament is currently on recess.
