Give Some to Get Some
The St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited (LUCELEC) has made nearly 5 million dollars available for redistribution as a rebate to qualifying customers.
This means that apart from domestic and commercial customers who are already paying a subsidized rate for electricity, hotel and industrial customers are also getting some relief.
Roger Joseph, the company's Corporate Communications Manager, says an act of Parliament and the Minister of Finance determine who gets the reimbursement.
"The rebates that are being provided are a requirement by law. We are governed by the Electricity Supply Act and that act requires that 50% of the profit that the company makes above what is called its allowable rate of return each year is provided by as rebate to qualified customers each year. The act specifies that such qualifying customers would be industrial and hotel consumers and ‘consumers of goods or consumers in need of special protection' as determined by the Minister of Finance."
Mr. Joseph has explained what this means in practice to consumes who are eligible for the rebate.
"Effectively what the rebate is that the monies that have been set aside, based on our performance in 2007, nearly $4.8 million dollars have been set aside to be redistributed to industrial and hotel customers for the moment, as a rebate on their electricity bills. That essentially means that for 2008, the bills for hotels and industrial customers will reflect nearly EC$0.07 per unit less than the standard rate they are required to pay per kilowatt hour."
LUCELEC expects to launch an energy efficiency campaign within the coming weeks, with a view to getting the public to adjust electricity consumption habits.