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Cayman Compass

Meet the residents turning a profit on their power bills

Idolyn Smith used to dread the arrival of her electricity bills.

The number in the envelope determined what kind of month she was going to have. How much she could spend on food, whether she could run the air conditioner at night or a fan for her husband, who was laid up in bed with a broken hip.

“Sometimes I didn’t want to open it,” she said.

“I would sit and think, ‘Lord don’t tell me it is high again’.”

Now, she proudly displays her July bill, showing a credit of $108.24.

As the summer heat reaches its sizzling peak, many in Cayman are seeing their electricity usage surge.

But Smith’s energy use – and, critically, her bills – are lower than they have ever been.

Only two years ago, she was seeing monthly bills of more than $500 for her tiny National Housing Development Trust home in West Bay.