You may be frowning because your light bill will be going up at the end of this month - but BEL says that it hopes to bring rates back down to 37 cents per kilowatt hour by 2020 - which, we'll note, sounds like great political timing.
And BEL hopes to do this by accessing cheaper power - whether it be from Mexico, renewable energy plants, or a new dam.
But, while that is the commitment going forward, for right now it seems the PUC was pretty much powerless to deny BEL a rate increase - which you'll see on your bill at the end of this month.
And that's because the increase is to recover 18.9 million dollars BEL has already spent absorbing a steep hike in the cost of power. The law says that cost has to be passed through to consumers.
And that's why the PUC took a surprising decision to ignore a government request to hold off on consideration of any increase in rates until June of this year. The PUC instead decided to go ahead with an increase effective immediately. But what the Commission did is make that increase a little less: instead of the 41.5 cents per kilowatt hour proposed a month ago, the new average rate will 41.38 cents per hour - which hardly noticeable to the average consumer.
But, tonight, there's some insight into the negotiation between the PUC and BEL to hammer out that modest adjustment.
A release from BEL says both sides met on Monday where BEL again put forth its case that it has been using its cash flow to absorb that increase in the cost of power.
And, the release says, quote, "After taking BEL's explanation into consideration, the PUC has decided to increase the Mean Electricity Rate to (41.38 cents) per (kilowatt hour)"
But, while BEL gets to recover its 18.9 million, the release adds that the PUC will be keeping an eye on things to make sure the utility is doing all it can to produce power as cheaply as possible. And that includes securing better prices from Mexico, and, quote, "resist(ing) recent attempts by local Independent Power Producers to increase cost." Those efforts are expected to bring average rates back down to 37 cents per kilowatt hour. There's also talk of adding cheap renewable energy plants such as solar and wind by 2022, and an additional hydro plant by 2023.
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