Energy price ‘could be 40 per cent cheaper’ Article by March 16, 2021 Barbados has the opportunity to slash electricity rates by as much as 40 per cent once it fully delves into the use of renewable energy, the Government’s chief energy researcher said Monday. His comments came after Energy Minister Kerrie Symmonds disclosed that Government “was giving way to renewable energy” by ending the 110-year electricity generation monopoly and allowing Barbadians to become “independent power producers”. The move comes nine years before Government’s self-imposed 2030 deadline to power all its energy needs by renewable resources. Bryan Haynes, Chief Project Analyst in the Research and Planning Unit in the Ministry of Energy contends that high oil prices are propping up the country’s electricity rates.