Fuel Surcharge subsidy for April amounts to $130,000

St Vincent Electricity Services Limited (VINLEC) continues to subsidize the Fuel Surcharge Rate applicable on electricity bills in the absence of a segment of the Company’s hydro facilities.{{more}} This is in keeping with a commitment made by VINLEC in January this year following extensive damage to the Hydro Power Plants during the December floods.

In April, VINLEC is subsidizing the Fuel Surcharge Rate in the amount of 1.28 cents per unit, a total value of $130,000 EC dollars. Accordingly, the Company said it wishes to inform customers and stakeholders that the Fuel Surcharge Rate applicable on electricity bills for April is 61.44 cents per unit. In the absence of this subsidy to customers, the Fuel Surcharge Rate that would have been applied is 62.72 cents per unit.

For the months of February, March and April 2014, VINLEC has spent just over $1.85 million dollars subsidizing the Fuel Surcharge Rate. Of this amount, 1.3 million dollars was applied to the February period. The Fuel Surcharge Rate is calculated based on the fuel consumption for the previous month.

Meanwhile, work continues on the rehabilitation of the hydro facilities. On April 1, the second of three plants at the Cumberland location was recommissioned. Work is being done in-house to have the third plant operational in the shortest possible time. The Company continues to evaluate various options for rebuilding the severely damaged infrastructure at Richmond. VINLEC is working towards having all rehabilitation work completed by the end of 2014 so that the Company can have its hydro operations fully functional. VINLEC’s hydroelectric facilities traditionally contribute an average of 18-20 per cent of the electricity generated annually.