Fuel surcharge subsidy amounts to $3.5 million

St Vincent Electricity Services Limited (VINLEC) has spent 3.5 million EC dollars subsidizing the Fuel Surcharge Rate on electricity bills for the past five months, a release from the company says.

In January 2014, VINLEC announced that it would subsidize the Fuel Surcharge Rate {{more}}applicable on electricity bills, after the company’s hydro facilities were damaged during the December trough system.

VINLEC’s hydro facilities traditionally produce an average of 18-20 per cent of the electricity generated annually. With this subsidy, VINLEC is absorbing the additional cost associated with electricity generation in the country in the absence of a segment of its hydro capacity.

“For the month of June, VINLEC is subsidizing the Fuel Surcharge Rate in the amount of 1 million EC dollars. Consequently, the Company wishes to advise customers and stakeholders that the rate applicable on June bills is 53.30 cents per unit. In the absence of the subsidy, the rate that would have been applied is 62.03 cents per unit. Be reminded that the Fuel Surcharge Rate is calculated on the fuel consumption for the previous month. In February, the subsidy was in the amount of 1.3 million dollars, the highest to date. The subsidy for the other months varied from 100 thousand to 400 thousand EC dollars,” the release said.

According to the release, the company’s commitment to subsidize this rate is in keeping with its firm commitment to contributing to a high quality of life for the people of this country.

Meanwhile, work to restore the third power station at the Cumberland location is ongoing. Earlier this year, the two other stations were recommissioned and all generating units are functional. However, the rehabilitation work at the Cumberland 2 station requires extensive work as some areas of the station were severely damaged. The South Rivers hydro facility has also been put back on line. The restorative work is being done by an in-house team from the Engineering Division. The company anticipates that work should be completed by the end of June.