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In accordance with the Electricity and Drinking Water BES Law, the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has set the maximum tariffs for Saba Electric Company (SEC) for 2019. These new tariffs went into effect as per January 1, 2019.
he new variable distribution tariff is 0.3516 USD/kWh (see Annex 1), which is less than last year’s tariff at 0.3617 USD/kWh.
The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK) has made available a subsidy for 2019 to assist in making the costs of electricity more affordable for the people of Saba. Customers will benefit from even lower fixed distribution fees this year, resulting from a subsidy that was received late last year from EZK. The subsidy was meant to be an addition to the 2018 subsidy, but as it arrived only at the end of the year it will be applied this year in addition to the 2019 subsidy. This added benefit (subsidy) is therefore a one-year extra, which will not be repeated in 2020.
To give a practical example of the benefits of the full subsidy for 2019, customers in kVA category 3.2 would have a fixed distribution fee of USD 31.23, but because of the subsidy- which is applied at 96% for this category- these customers will instead have a fixed distribution fee of USD 1.25. That’s a reduction of USD 29.98.
For a transparent application of the subsidy to the different kVA categories, please refer to Annex 2. lt should be further noted that the variable distribution tariff dropped from USD 0.3735/kWh (for 2018) to USD 0.3516/kWh. This decrease is a direct result of Solar Park 1 going into service and the expectation that Solar Park 2 will become operational in 2019. As a result, despite higher fuel prices, the costs per kilowatt-hour has decreased. Without the production from solar energy, the variable distribution tariff would have been USD 0.4319/kWh as of January 1, 2019.
SEC customers in billing cycle 1, which is the billing period for January, can expect to receive their bills with the new tariffs and applied subsidy in the first week of February. Residents of The Bottom and St. John’s fall in cycle 1. Customers in billing cycle 2, which is the billing period for January 15 to February 15 and henceforth, can expect to receive their new bills following February 15. These are customers in Windwardside and Hell’s Gate.
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