CUC: Higher usage, not rising fuel rates behind bill increases

The Caribbean Utilities Company Ltd. says more use of air conditioning as the summer temperatures rise is behind the higher electricity bills many in Cayman are seeing this month, rather than any substantial increases in fuel rates.

Scores of customers throughout Cayman took to social media to complain about large hikes in the bills for May, which they received this month, with some saying their bills had increased by hundreds of dollars while insisting they had not made any notable changes to their consumption habits.

However, CUC said there had been no change to the base rates applied to electricity consumption for May, and while the company acknowledged that fuel rates do fluctuate each month, “the change to overall fuel charges was incremental for the month of May”.

According to the fuel factor data posted on the CUC website, the fuel rate for May was just over 19 cents per kilowatt hour, compared to 18.5 cents per kWh in April. That figure does not include the government fuel duty, which was 1.3 cents per kWh last month.

CUC, in a press release addressing the higher bills, said, “Most customers will note that their May consumption has increased when compared to April.

“With the summer months upon us, customers are reminded to monitor their consumption and make the necessary adjustments within their home. The heat factor during these months will play a significant role for air conditioning loads.”

Last year, between June and December, as fuel costs skyrocketed worldwide, and Cayman was still in the early stages of recovering from the COVID-19 crisis, the government launched an Electricity Assistance Programme for 22,000 local households, on which it spent $8.5 million.

Future government assistance not ruled out

At a Finance Committee meeting in Parliament last week, responding to a call by Bodden Town West MP Chris Saunders for the programme to be brought back to help people having difficulty paying their power bills, especially over the summer months, Premier Wayne Panton said government may consider reintroducing the assistance initiative, subject to funding.

Panton said when the programme was launched last year, the fuel rates were trending in excess of 20 cents per kWh, and were expected at the time to increase to 21 or 22 cents per kWh in the last six months of 2022.

Since then, he said, fuel costs have been trending downwards.

Saunders asked what the fuel rate per kWh would need to reach before an assistance programme would be triggered.

“If the fuel factor hits 20 cents per kilowatt hour, will the government bring back the programme? … Last year, it was 20 cents, what number would it be for this year?” he asked.

The premier answered, “It was not specifically a trigger point of 20 cents per kilowatt hour. It was projected to continue to increase beyond that. I will certainly say that the government will consider ways to assist as much as possible.

“There are a number of other initiatives rolled out which will be helping people who qualify and who are most in need,” he said, but added that this would not preclude government from trying to find funding for a further assistance programme if fuel factor costs are projected to increase to levels seen last summer.

Fuel rates last year reached their peak in October, at 23.6 cents per kWh.

West Bay West MP McKeeva Bush, saying his own electricity bill for May had increased by $580, said customers, especially those on lower incomes, were being “hit hard” by the increases in interest rates and CUC bills.

Panton responded that among the initiatives government had launched to help people keep their utility costs down, was an in-home audit of residents’ consumption and efficiencies. He added that a future programme involved helping Caymanian homeowners “upgrade their homes in terms of efficiency”.

However, Bush responded, “Don’t hold fast to this idea about auditing. Most people audit how they control their electricity in homes. Most people know how to turn off lights and turn water heaters off.”