CUC price cut ‘soon come’
(CNS): The country’s Electricity Regulatory Authority said that the recently announced fuel rebate on CUC bills is currently being worked out and will be launched in the next few weeks. Responding to concerns that CUC had increased its charges, the ERA said Thursday that the local power company had only changed the formatting of its bills but had not imposed any additional charges. The authority explained that CUC cannot increase rates or add new charges without regulatory approval and the next change to come would be a reduction, not an increase.
“It is the intention of the Cayman Islands’ government to launch within the next few weeks a monthly rebate which would show up as a credit on your CUC monthly invoice. The final details of that rebate are currently being worked,” the ERA said in a release.
The announcement was made by the premier last month when he brought the long awaited 2011/12 budget to the Legislative Assembly. McKeeva Bush said in his budget address that he would use some of the money government would earn this financial year from a new regulatory fee imposed on hedge funds to cut duty on CUC bills.
It is not clear how the $4.5 million which he said would be taken from the expected earnings will be allocated to CUC’s residential customers, as Bush made it clear it would be domestic rather than commercial bills which will benefit from the government rebate.
During the budget debate in the week that followed the premier’s announcement, the opposition asked the government to roll back the extra 25 cent duty placed on fuel import duty and questioned how this rebate would be allocated and what it would equate to for the consumer. It was also revealed that CUC had not been informed of government’s plans.
Bush had said he was under no obligation to inform CUC about the duty rebate until he had got the money to do it. The premier said the only reason why he had imposed the duty increase was because there was no money to run government and Bush said he had always said he would find a “way to take it off” when the government’s financial situation stabilized. He also hurled accusations at the opposition bench accusing them of giving the local power firm a sweet heart deal.
Since the announcement regarding the forthcoming rebate, CUC have changed the format of bills to reflect the spike in international oil prices. “CUC has chosen to separate the portion of fuel charges that represent import duty charges on CUC fuel purchases used in the production of electricity,” the ERA said Thursday but acknowledged that it could be confusing for the consumer.
“The Electricity Regulatory Authority understands the potential confusion that this new billing format may have caused. It is important to realize that these are not additional charges to your CUC bill and that these charges have always been included in the overall fuel cost charge item of previous CUC bills,” the authority noted. “No new charges can be added unilaterally by CUC without proper regulatory approval.”
Ironically, in light of government’s failure to notify CUC of its intention to offer residential customers a rebate, CUC did not give prior notice to the ERA of its intention to make the change to monthly bills.
The increse in the cost of electricity bills has been having a significant impact on the cost of living and according to the latest Annual Economic Report, average electricity inflation was at 21.3 percent during 2010.
Category: Local Business
will have to visit Social Services for them to pay CUC bill.
Low levels of AC in summer are not a human right.
You know it's getting bad when living on a cruise ship is cheaper than renting a condo or owning a house. Plus you get free food, free entertainment, travel and NO UTILITY BILL. Interestingly enough, cruise ships engines are just like the ones CUC uses to run the generators. The difference is that cruise ships have "waste heat recovery" systems that make more efficient use of their fuel. They are after all trying to make as much money as possible. Shouldn't CUC attempt such efficiency?
CUC, the natives are getting restless.
The time is quickly approaching for you to get with the program and do your due diligence.There are a slew of companies offering waste heat recovery systems utilizing the Rankine cycle and Kalina cycle to boost electicity production and lower the costs to consumers. Iceland, the Philipinnes, Alaska and Japan to name a few have proven systems in place. The data is there for you. Soon your shareholders are going to be asking, "Why not", and you will neet to answer to them. After all, you are a publicly held company and your first obligation by law is to maximize profits to the shareholders. When they get restless you will listen.
Simply put we need to find a new way.
I know I shouldn't say this but I am truly amazed that a country that vying to develope a world leading facility for the advancement of science has dedicated so littlein its direction. We can not even put a fully electric vehicle on our roads because the laws are not in place to do so and our current government is looking in every direction but teh direction they should look.
People has anyone noticed the fact that we are in teh caribbean? I mean don't we have like sun almost 24/7/365? Why are we not PRESSURING CUC to get involved in this technology? CIG why are you not offering incentives for people to generate their own current and I am not talking about sell to CUC at Wholesale and buy back at retail. I am talking about have homes self sufficient with CUC as back up power. This would be much like the Hybrids of today that rely on Electric for the first say 40-50 miles before turning to the gas.
We need to get off of our buttts and start moving forward instead of backwards or sideways.
I am wondering about CIG approaching some company about introduction of Solar plant here in Cayman.
The goverment is going to subsidise my electric bill Dred I have no incentive to go green. They are going to keep taking money from businesses until the businesses leave and then we can go back to fishing smoke pots and church.
Hold on. Electric cars use electricity. We buy electricity from CUC which generates it using diesel. How does this help exactly?
Re solar power, this does not provide reliable power and technology has not advanced to the point where the power generated by solar may be stored for a significant period.
Why is it that people assume that no one else has thought of these things?
You may use $40 worth of electricity a month for your car if you are not living in town. Do you use $40 worth of gas a month if you are not living in town?
YES your electricity bill will go up but not in pperportion to the decrease in your fuel cost for your car.
So the answer is yes you will save.
Most electric cars can travel 40 miles before needing a charge. BT for instance is only 12 or 13 miles from GT. So back and forth will only half empty you on electricity.
I am one disgruntled CUC customer.
My June CUC bill has increased by CI$228.00. This is total madness, how are we expected to survive in these “down times”? As a single mother and the sole provider of my household, this outrageous increase in fees will significantly affect my financial status. I can only imagine how those customers earning minimum wages will struggle to pay their CUC bills and continue to feed their families, together with all other monthly living expenses.
I am conserving energy every which way I can. I no longer utilise my dryer and have been hanging my clothes on the lines outside to “dry”.
I only use my air-conditioning split units (2) which is serviced on a regular basis for a few hours per day. I turn off lights and fans when no one is in certain rooms of my house. I have installed a “tank less water heater” since 2006. What more do I have to do to conserve energy just to avoid paying CUC such high service charges? Return to Kerosane lamp?
June's bill required me to pay Government Fuel Duty, why? This charge was not on May’s bill. I paid almost $100? Why are CUC's customers being charged for their Government Fuel Duty? If fuel is a necessity for CUC to operate and remain in operation why are the customers absorbing the Government Fuel Duty costs?
Why are we the consumers responsible for Licence & Regulation Fees, Fuel Cost and Government Fuel Duty? So, what exactly is CUC responsible for?
Something must be done! I think it is high time our Government take action and disallow such exorbitant behaviour of the service providers in these Islands. There should be some form of regulation in place to ensure businesses like CUC does not have free will to hike service fees as they see fit and decide which of their overheads consumers should absorb.
We need to take a stand and not allow businesses like CUC hike costs on services that are a necessity to the people of these Islands!!
OMG I have done so much more differently this past month…what will July's bill be?
Man up !!
"June's bill required me to pay Government Fuel Duty, why? This charge was not on May’s bill. I paid almost $100? Why are CUC's customers being charged for their Government Fuel Duty? If fuel is a necessity for CUC to operate and remain in operation why are the customers absorbing the Government Fuel Duty costs?".
Here's a suggestion: before commenting please read the article thoroughly.
I do not know of any business where the costs of doing business are not paid for by the consumer. The only difference is that it is normally included in the price of the good or service which is not broken down so that you can understand how it is comprised. If it were otherwise they would rapidly be out of business.
Responding to this poster…Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 07/10/2011 – 14:05.
I read the article otherwise I would not have commented.
You must be a well paid employee of CUC where you get a "special rate", and you don't pay these huge bills, so it really doesn't matter to you that single families and minimum wage households are feeling this financial pressure.
You know what I said my piece, had it posted and everyone including you have read it, and that is all that matters to me.
You obviously did not read the article and still have not read it since it addressed your misconception about CUC suddenly charging you for govt. duty on fuel as follows:
"Since the announcement regarding the forthcoming rebate, CUC have changed the format of bills to reflect the spike in international oil prices. “CUC has chosen to separate the portion of fuel charges that represent import duty charges on CUC fuel purchases used in the production of electricity,” the ERA said Thursday but acknowledged that it could be confusing for the consumer.
“The Electricity Regulatory Authority understands the potential confusion that this new billing format may have caused. It is important to realize that these are not additional charges to your CUC bill and that these charges have always been included in the overall fuel cost charge item of previous CUC bills,” the authority noted. “No new charges can be added unilaterally by CUC without proper regulatory approval.”".
Being able to post a comment and having others read it is not all that matters. Having a factual basis for your comments is important too. You are willfully ignorant.
Just to be clear, I am not an employee of CUC or for that matter a shareholder. I am, however, a well-informed commenter.
This has been going on for years with CUC…don't you remember they had to make a profit after Hurricane Ivan???? Our houses were destroyed, but CUC had to make their profit. Our electricity here in the Cayman Islands is probably one of the highest in the world..how do they justify a 1500 square foot house, hardly using anything electrical…bill is no less then 600 per month??? Government allowed this to happen and we keep on taking the abuse. We can complain complain blog blog and complain some more BUT NOTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE. We will keep paying our outrageous bills, go into debt to pay our debt and vote in the same government. Nobody is doing anything for us the people!!!
Apparently CUC are controlling the world oil price. . .
I have an 1100 square feet one storey apartment. I only run the AC from 6pm to 7am @ 78 degrees, seldomly cook, turn the heater on only before bath time and do laundry once a week for myself, hubby and child yet every month my light bill is $500??? Now tell me this ain't some BS??
What you said does sound like BS. You need to have an energy audit. There is no way your bill should be in that neighbourhood. There are many people with larger homes, who use AC and have smaller bills.
People can be so ignorant! Please stop saying your are doing nothing Different each month. For starters, the weather does something different each month and you have no control over it. If you did something different your bill would go down. Turn up the thermostat. Also, how long do you bathe each day? What about other members of your household? Do you time them? And monitor the temperature of the water? How about how many times and for how long you hold the fridge door open for? What about how many visitors you have each month? Oh, don't forget t calculate the dust count in your house so you can tell us how clogged your a/c and dryer filters are? While I am neither for or against CUC it is fair to say that no one does everything the same each month! Please stop saying ignorant comments like that. I am very interested to hear more about the Pay As You G that someone mentioned below. Any info on that CNS?
CNS: I did articles on it for Net News at the time but they're not available online anymore. I found this – “Pay as you go” in the Cayman Islands
As we can se….so can you.
Can I ask you a simple question while you are there seemingly in full defense of CUC. Do you know with 100% surity that your bill is correct any month? Do you know if your meter is actually functioning correctly and not altered to overdo your usage?
Think back to the Water debacle a few months back when many people were getting ASTRONOMICAL bills. What did the Water company do? They made many people pay it.
The fact is they have us by the short and curlies. So it does not matter if you are monitoring or even if the amount is seemingly rediculous you will have to pay.
So you attack people about saying they did nothing different but sometimes you can logically say something is so different that there is no REAL logical explanation for it. Yes changes in weather will affect bills. Summer will cause bills to go up some but would you think 40% increase to be right or too high? Some people are seeing just that.
So before you jump on people with YOUR IGNORANCE realise there is something called COMMONSENSE out there that many of us employ to make judegments of right and wrong and when someone is saying they didn't change anything they mean TO JUSTIFY THE DRASTIC INCREASE. Not completely literally.
I do know that my meter and readings are correct because I check them daily myself. I don’t need to wait for CUC to tell me what my bill is or whether I need to turn up my thermostat. When a bill increases by 40% people automatically want to blame CUC. Have you ever stopped to think that there could be something wrong with an appliance/pump/ac or whatever? Mechanical equipment never becomes more efficient with time and that person that complained about an increase in their bill more than likely has some issue that will be revealed shortly when one of their pieces of equipment fails.
Please show your common sense in reading carefully what I wrote. They don’t have to make a drastic change. Life creates those changes and being hit with a higher fuel price at the wrong time can affect your bill and yes as much as or more than 40%.
Look at the license. You have the right to have your meter tested. If it is incorrect CUC has to adjust. If it is incorrect you will have to pay a fee I think.
Do us all a favor though and tell me again how many of the things I listed in my first post that you timed? If you cant be responsible with your electricity then you deserve the high bill. I watch how I use it so that I dont have the surprises. If people come over I know the bill will increase. If my kids take long baths or hold the fridge door open then same thing. No one can say they do the same thing each month no matter how logical they want to seem they are.
Your common sense, or lack there of, is more of an emotional reaction. While you want to attack my knowledge I’ll continue paying my small bill because I understand how electricity works and am not so ignorant to degrade a company for something I did. That is ignorance. If I used it… I will pay for it. Your meter will confirm for you that you used it… Check it daily!
So tell me how you know that the meter is correct even though "I check them daily myself"? Do you know exactly how much kws you are using throughout your home? Let me answer that for you NO you don't. All you know is that the meter matches what CUC form says.
Do you know you can affect the meter and cause it to not read correctly? Do you know meters can be defective? Do you realise the meter only provides you with a number but it's how that number is used that creates the value of your bill?
The simple fact of reading your meter does but one thing. It lets you know how much the meter is saying you consumed. That's it in a nutshell. It does not justify that number at all.
Now all you can do with that information is to be scared and start turning stuff off you need on. Start turning your termostat up so you sweat at nights or turn the AC off altogther.
Most of us are not retarded as you would make us out to be. We all look at the things we do that burn current and do what we can to conserve.
The problem is that no matter what we do we are still seeing significant increases. Like many I have installed tankless water heaters, I have no AC running in days while I am not home only a ceiling fan. I do what I can to not use microwaves or dryers. We open windows to vent the home. We monitor the temperature in our fridges. I ensure the AC filters are cleaned every 2 months not 3 as recommended. I have my AC serviced every 3 months not 6 as recommended. NOTHING MATTERS!! I even removed the tankless water heater thing last month cause that didn't seem to help.
Since March 2011 my bill is almost double what it was. A 95% increase. From $395 to $770. That's not withstanding the changes we have made to keep cost down.
You must own CUC shares why you seem to like them somuch.
People like you who come on here seemingly thinking you are SMARTER than us make me sick. You think you are smart while all you do is what we all do. You are not smart! Let's set the record straight. You are just pompous. Maybe because you have a big cushy job and can afford to pay your bill and therefore its nothing to you but not all of us are like you. Some of us are fighting to make ends meet. Some of us are making decisions monthly we rather not even consider making.
So get off you high horse and if you don't have anything useful to say just shut up and let people vent who have reason to vent.
You are therefore confirming that you don’t know how a meter works!
You have the same access that I have to a breaker panel so shut everything off, then start by trying one breaker and confirm the appliance you are using uses a certain number of watts as rated by the manufacturer. Check that in a period of say 6 minutes (1/10th of an hour) it uses what it states it should and your meter has turned that far. It is not complicated if you understand it. Example: fridge uses 1000w or 1 Kwh. In a matter of 6 minutes it should turn your meter .01 of a kwh. Now obviously that isn’t readable on your meter but you get the idea.
What you have described to me will do very little to help with reducing your bill. How many cell phone charges/tv’s/computers/cordless phones/microwaves/surround sound/cable boxes/alarm clocks/printers or whatever do you leave plugged in just burning electricity when no one is there to watch/use them. They all use electricity. They all add up at the end of 30 days. Even if they were only burning $0.01 an hour it adds many dollars to your bill each month.
I know a thing or 2 about meters and I have heard everything about what you can do to meters but the fact remains that we are using the current. Vent if you must, but would you go to texaco and tell them you didn’t burn the gas in your car? We never get the same milage for each tank. Why don’t you complain about that?
You have resorted to name calling and you don’t know who I am. So you are saying that makes you smart? As I stated earlier, I dont have any interest in CUC one way or another (shares or otherwise). I just think it is wrong of people to say they do nothing different when they most certainly do things different each day much less each month. I also have a small bill so I don’t have to have a cushy job.
I would venture to say that everything I have said is not only useful but helpful (to people other than yourself because you have done everything right in ensuring you are using electricity but resort to blaming the power company for it).
I don’t come on anywhere thinking I’m smarter than anyone. I know what I know and maybe it will help someone like yourself who seems to think that a water heater and ac are the only things that use electricity. By the way, the flat screen tv(s) you have uses more than 4 times the current of your old tube tv. Just for your info though… And yes it burns a lot when you turn it off too. Unplug it to make a difference.
I am in the electrical industry so yes I do know how many kilowatts I’m using throughout my house and there are many little gadgets (research a gadget called kill-a-watt for less than $20US) you can buy that will tell you as well. Like I said in my first post, ignorance doesn’t mean someone is right. Before you try to make me appear as though I don’t know what I’m talking about make sure you do some research because you have now been schooled.
Hey Dred. If YOU don't have anything useful to say, why don't YOU shut up.
If reported correctly, this story raises so many questions, and illustrates how government goes about its business in a totally slapdash and irresponsible manner:
1. What effect will the tax on hedge funds have on that sector of the financial industry? I've heard from two hedge fund managers that it is likely to encourage investors to place their funds in other, less tax disadvantageous, jurisdictions.
2. The Premier announces the rebate but doesn't know how it's going to work? What? How irresponsible is this? The Premier obviously felt he needed a feel-good headline.
3. The ERA says CUC has just changed the formatting of the bill and have not raised charges. Not raised charges? Is this a joke? CUC have changed the bill format so they can raise the fuel charge, but still say they have not raised the actual cost of electricity. This still means bigger bills for the consumer. Remember, CUC do not have to pass on to the consumer every cent of the increase in the cost of fuel — their share holders could take smaller dividends. I'll bet that despite the 21.3% inflation on electricity in 2010, shareholder dividends were at least the same or greater than in 2009! Breaking the monopoly is the BEST way to reduce electricity costs in Cayman.
4. Give the rebate to domestic users and let local business owners continue to struggle on without it? I predict CUC will find a way claw back the rebate through levying increased charges on the business sector; something that probably hasn't even crossed the Premier's mind. Keep a close eye on this.
5. The Premier's announces the rebate without CUC having any idea on what this will mean for their business? How irresponsible is this?
Finally, I'd just like to wish the hedge fund industry a fond fairwell.
If your have a problem with high electric bills I would suggest you read the recent Viewpoint article about burning money. It explains alot.
People should learn how to read their electric meter. Read it at least twice a day for a month and keep a log.
Make some changes like shutting off the a/c, water heater etc and see how it affects your usage.
How old is your refrigerator? A new fridge can make a huge difference.
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=refrig.calculator
What i don't understand is why when the fuel cost rises in the United States our raise but when they go down in the States we don't. The United States fuel cost went down for 17 consecutive days and we stayed with the raised rates. When you ask they said they don't follow the States which is bull cause they raise it everytime the States does. I just noticed that the fuel at the gas stations have recently done down a little but a month after the States did. And it didn't go down much. So frustrating.
I agree that the governmet has imposed additional taxes which has cause much hardship to the CUC consumers. However,we have a wayto deal with that comes next election.
In regards to CUC monolopy I am of the opinion that CUC estimates the bills at times. In the month of May I had 3 apartments occupied using the same meter and in the month of June I had 2 apartments occupied. The difference in the billings were May was billed on 30 days and June was bill on 32 days. I am convenience CUC estimated my bill for the month of june.
Can't help but feel I'm being ripped off. By any slight chance, does anyone else feel the same?
$200 increase from last month n I was away for a week!! Have CUC increased rates in addition to the fuel duty!! I’ve contact them and asked for an electricity audit as this is crazy! $800 for a small 3 bed is insane….what are we going to do people?!
Who ? negotiated and signed the last 23 year license with CUC anyways?
Some of the most brilliant minds in the country they say!
No one can negotiate away world oil prices or reasonably expect that it would be possible for CUC absorb them. That is what is increasing your bill. And the hotter the weather the worse it is.
I just got my new bill & nearly passed out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How can I have an increase of 260.00 dollars from the last bill to this one & I've done NOTHING different!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mind boggling to say the least!
Fuel factor went up.
11:31 we here in Cayman should do the same thing pack them up and send them somewhere also this is RIDICULOUS for a house thats two bedrooms just below 1600sq ft the ligth bill is almost a thousand dollar a/c comes on at 8 in the evening and off by 6.30 in the morning cloths hang on the line this is BS light bill is two hundred dollars less than mortgage.
those #s don't seem right. I have similar sf and AC is on 79 at night and 81 in day, use the clothes dryer (2 people) and I'm at about 3-400 a month.
9:41; the person above has a family of five. Believe me that says it all. I have a family of five with my helper 6 and the children leave everything on. I am behind them turning off fans and lights, turning off internet, computers, setting a.c. (window units) to go off in 1 hr, unplugging chargers constantly. The teenagers were away for a few days and the light bill was lower when they were away. I have Pay-as-you go.
Something wrong and I am guessing your a/c. For a family of five I have 3 central units cooling 3500 sq feet and bills are around $600
Some people might need to check on how efficient their central air conditioners are. For example, a friend told me he could run his ac all day at 82 degrees and his light bill was like a $100. me on the other hand got jipped by the person putting in my ac and not knowing anything about ac I ended up with one that if I use it at 82 degrees for 1 whole day that is $20 per day just for the ac. The Seer of the units really make a difference.
Something is definitely wrong there and it may not be CUC. I have 6,500 sq ft. and my bill is CI$1,100 per month.
Everyone knows times are hard.
So this may not be much reduction but its an start so hopefully this shall continue and before you know it things shall be better again it doesn't hurt to keep a little faith after all that's the only thing left to keep us going.
Remember people think positive,be positive and positivity will eventually come your way.
#BeingHumbleIsTheBEST!
CUC is a company that makes money. And… I am sure that this summer they will take advantage that kids are home and maybe triple last months bill. I for example went on vacation for a whole month and no-one was home. The only thing that was left turned on was the refrigerator. I even unplugged the water heater and can someone at CUC please explain why my bill when I got it the following month after I went on vacation was twice the amount of when I am home? Who reads these meters? I for sure cannot understand this.
Once again. They are forcing us to pay these bills. If we dont pay them. We dont get the electricity. So we are forced to pay them even if we know we did not consume that much energy. As my experience when I went away on vacation.
You have to badger CUC for an explanation – and don't let up. I had an experience with them, albeit it was back in 1999, where they were reading my neighbours meter for mine – they checked "my" meter, kept insisting there was nothing wrong then sheepishly called me to say they were giving me my neighbour's bill. They owed me $500+ by the time it was all over. But you have to be persistent.
By my calculations, this should equate to approximately $15 reduction per month per house meter. This is insignificant and the funds would better spent reducing the Country's debt.
I am glad someone worked this out because it was I suspected, a drop in the ocean. Beam me up Scotty.
I agree that we get good service from CUC but we sure pay for it. We are paying for the Meter,(facilities charge), we pay our energy charge(how much we actually use) we pay fuel cost (imagine, we are paying CUC to sell us electricity) Last month my fuel charge was almost double the electricity charge; and also paying the government duty that CUC should be paying. We are paying everything. Call me stupid, but what is CUC really paying??
What does any business pay? All businesses pass on their costs (all of their costs) to consumers. How else would they make a profit? I hereby order business degrees for everyone!!!! Because the evidence that joe public needs a business degree is overwhelming! Its ok, I wouldn't expect you to have learnt that at John Gray.
I would think that it would be signicant cost to keep electricity on on this island so that we can enjoy the "luxury" of airconditioning and cold foods. So all those engines and millions of dollars in equipment in North Sound Road must be of significant cost to the company. If some of us would only go next tour to Jamaica, or to other islands in the region where the power goes off a few times a day or a week, wewould appreciate what we have here. We want a good reliable electricity service, but we don't want to pay for the high fuel costs which we in Cayman cannot control nor do we want to pay for what we use. Should it all be free?
Isn't the fuel charge part of CUC's cost of doing business? Why are we paying for it? Just like the hurricane recovery fees we paid to CUC – why do they, as a private, profit-making company, not have to absorb that?
I am going to let you in on a secret – EVERY BUSINESS under the sun passes on its costs of doing business to its customers through the prices of its goods and services. Otherwise no business would ever make a profit and they would soon be out of business.
This is NOT true! Customers have choices and if you pass on the costs of doing business to them they simply will not come back. If we all had a choice we would not be customers of CUC. So if most businesses passed on the cost like CUC they would be out of business!
All businesses pass on their costs. If you do not pass on your major fundamental costs you will make a loss and will go bust. That is simple commonsense. If CUC makes a 10% return how would they able to absorb increases that represent 50% of their bills? Fosters, Hurleys and Kirks all pass on their costs but they still have customers. We have many Class A Banks all of which pass ontheir costs (plus admin fees for non-costs) and yet we do not see any of them closing for lack of customers.
Substitute clear thinking for emotional outbursts people.
Your point is true. It is understandable that a business must increase fees to ensure profit. However all the comparisons you have listed all have competitors and clearly CUC does not and due to the service provided and current policies it will never, at least not immediately. Yes all these businesses pass the some cost on to the customer but the customer still has the option to choose amongst the other competitors. I have the option to shop at different supermarkets for the better price or fresher produce & different products and switch banks to one with a lower interest rate and banking fees. There is no other company to compare CUC’s rates to. The worst thing a government can do is allow a private corporation monopolize on an essential service and not ensure they invest in infrastructure that will eventually lower cost. What it all boils down to is the Government regulation over CUC to ensure affordable and efficient electricity. Had Government and CUC taken all this into consideration while they were charging us for Ivan Recovery, we might have seen better bills by now.
The point is that competition and the ability to move from one to the other store or bank in those cases has not meant that the costs have not been passed on to you WHICH EVER store or bank that you have chosen. There are no great savings moving from bank to bank or store to store in Cayman. By the way, do really think that their profits (over and above their costs) are limited to 10%?
"The worst thing a government can do is allow a private corporation monopolize on an essential service and not ensure they invest in infrastructure that will eventually lower cost".
What infrastructure do you have in mind? Do you understand that investing in redundant infrastructure means that this will be an additional cost to be passed on to consumers so you would end up increasing their bills? The longer one can use the infrastructure without replacement the lower consumers' bills will be.
The problem is that you are thinking in generalities and theoretical terms. The market is not nearly as efficient as they teach in high school economics text books.
Maybe they should get Cayman Brac Power & Light to show them how to run CUC they offer payasyougo power $300.00 a month can run a 3 bedroom house with A/C every night for a month.
All you do is take your card in put money on it an you are good to go you can tell how much current you burn every day so if it too much you can cut back. At least you are not surprised when you get a bill tripling what you paid before and fuel is more over there.
Thats why when CUC came to Cayman Brac to buy out Cayman Brac Power and Light Back in the 80's we sent them packing.
"Whatchu talkn bout Willis"???
I didnt know you had pay as you go electricity in the Brac. I would love to have that here on GC. At least that would remove the suprise element each month when I open my CUC bill and end up fainting like the man on the local tv commercial!
Flip – Govt adds 25 cents tax to fuel.
Flop – Govt removes 25 cents fuel tax.
Hooraay!!! At least our Govt is proving to have a fool-proof economic plan!
I find it incredible that on an island in the CARIBBEAN, where the sun is guaranteed to shine that you are not using solar energy or being given incentives to do so.
Tell me this has/is been looked into by your leaders?
This stinks something rotten, & questions need to be asked as to why it has not / is not being implemented.
welcome to wonderland….
Bascially solar technology is not up to it yet. Cells basically cost so much it takes 15-20 years to cover costs. We do not have much spare flat land for panel banks either.
Think outside the box – we have plenty of rooftop space. Further, the cost of solar (roughly $0.23 kW/h using photovoltaic panels in our relative region) is calculated by determining the average cost necessary to cover the capital investment in building the facility plus maintenance over the course of its lifetime and fair profit margin (anywhere from 25-50 years per facility). That's about $0.14 less per kilowatt hour than what we currently pay. If we used solar for heat (e.g. sterling engines) with molten salt as a storage mechanism for days without sun (98% heat efficiency over time), the average cost would be even less, though maintenance is a bit more, and it requires a very tall tower. It seems fairly stupid, though not surprising given the connections between CUC and gov't, that we haven't pushed better energy policies and solutions.
Again. How about one of these?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Spain
Would look great from the banks.
The sun is not "guaranteed" to shine. It is not shining today. This is the reason why solar cannot provide reliable power. Do you seriously believe that no one would have thought of this? Of course it is open to you to try it at home.
I bet if Bush was somehow able to get our CUC bills lowered, get the Texaco's and Esso's to reduce the cost of gas @ the pump (ie keep it in check w fluctuationg oil prices) he could win the next election. A platform like that to make it affordable to live here, would be a winner. Also I think we need to be rewarded (via subsidies) to bring in and use alternative energy that we can put back into the grid. I live on a canal and would love to be able to have a small wind turbine on my dock. This along with Solar power isnt affordable unless we get encouraged by subsidies like in Canada and the US. Seriously, the COL is mindboggling here. After 15 years, it has steadily increased…what happened to the wind farm in EE ? Surely that would be a good idea or would Ardon lie in front of the bulldozer for that as well ? I agree with one of the earlier posts – CUC is a company here to make $ so we dont want to lose what we have and go to brownouts etc. but surely there is a way to lower the monthlies. Definitely give back the .25 or .50c Govt tax on fuel to the people…
Notice that about 80% of the CUC bill is listed as a "Fuel Factor". McKeeva has no economic concept. Why would you create a self inflicted inflation on an island that will struggle in the long term? The fuel duty immediately increases the price of everything on Cayman as every business either relies on CUC, fuel or both.
What difference will this subsidy really make…maybe save us a few cents per month, bugger all I bet. Best to use the subsidy to pay down government debt
What subsidy? This is a reduction in the duties that Govt. charges.
thanks to generations of uneducated, backward cayman politicians…cayman is dependent on oil for generating power…… and as oil gradually increases in price it is slowly killing the cayman economy…..
Hey, Anonymous 10:04!…… You left out "wheelin' and dealin'".
Doubt you will see this, as the rest of the worldelectricity prices are going up at least 15%. The government jumping in with a rebate is honestly pointless. Yes it migh "help" with the electricity bills, but it doesnt solve the problem of us paying the rediculous electriciy fees in the first place.
We're taking our own money and giving it back to the people as if its all a charity.. Remember , we have to find this money later on the balance the budget…. so its technically not free.
XXXXX
We really do need an alternative energy option.
It was just a year ago that this government imposed a 25c per gallon fuel duty which directly caused the spike in CUC bills that the govt is now crusading against! So Mac gets to look like the people's hero with his rebate even though he caused the increase, XXXX What a joke
Oldest trick in the politicians book.
1. Create the problem.
2. "Solve" the problem.
3. Claim all the credit and name yourself the people's hero.
I'm sorry but this is just total BS. Fuel may be expensive but we pay for more in fuel charge than we do for the electricty CUC is doing this becasue they are the only electric company on the Island may be if they had to compete they mite do better with these charges that what they are doing .
Since the announcement regarding the forthcoming rebate CUC have changed the format of bills to reflect the spike in international oil prices. “CUC has chosen to separate the portion of fuel charges that represent import duty charges on CUC fuel purchases used in the production of electricity,” the ERA said Thursday but acknowledged that it could be confusing for the consumer.
CUC and other companies, such as the service (gas) stations have used this over the last six months to increase their billing and increase the cost of fuel sold here on the Islands. Why is there not a decrease now in the fuel charges and fuel costs at the pumps? For the last couple of months the cost of oil has dropped significantly but the price of gas remains the same here. May anyone have an answer for this? Maybe the ERA or the directors of Esso or Texaco can answer this? Whenever there is an increase on oil, we immediately see the increase here. What happens when there is a decrease on oil, prices remain the same?
Just a baffled view point!! Hope someone can help.
Sunrise, you no longer have to remain baffled. I can tell you why the price of gasoline is where it is. It's a thing called GREED. The oil companies want to make big profits for themselves and their shareholders. And….. the oil companies set the prices for the fuel delivered to gasoline stations. A lot of oil wells are owned by the oil companies. The oil from these wells costs about the same to get out of the groundas it always has, but that makes no difference. The oil companies will continue to raise the prices as long asyou and I have the money to buy their product. And don't expect CUC or any other electric company to lower their rates……… it might not happen.
Too late for me! I'm sick of the high cost of living in Cayman. I'm leaving in August $500+ CUC bills for a single person who only uses the AC at night and only turns the hot water heater on prior to a shower is ridiculous! You can take your CUC price cut "Soon Come" and stow it where the sun doesn't shine!
Some thing is wrong with your meter – it shouldn't be that high – if your consumption is what it says it is. Ours is rarely over $250 for night time only ac but our water heater is on all the time.
Ditto- I came to the conclusion that there are no actual readings or accountability and that the figure being billed to me was pulled out of someone's ass. The amount had no relationship to the power used. It's the island way of accounting. They can stow it where the sun don't shine!
A quick summary for [Energy] policy makers.
During the past century, world economic growth has depended largely on ever-expanding use of hydrocarbon energy sources: oil for transportation, coal and natural gas for electricity generation, oil and gas for agricultural production. It is no exaggeration to say that the health of the global economy currently hinges on increasing rates of production of these fuels. However, oil, gas, and coal are non-renewable resources that are typically extracted using the “low-hanging fruit” principle.
That is, large concentrations of high-quality and easily accessed fuels tend to be depleted first. Thus, while the world is in no danger of running out of hydrocarbon energy sources anytime soon, oil, gas, and coal extraction efforts are increasingly directed toward low-quality, hard-to-produce fuels that require higher up-front investment and entail increasing environmental costs and risks.
Read more: <http://www.postcarbon.org/article/395638-rising-hydrocarbon-costs-a-quick-summary>
Regulating utility prices is a form of price control.
Price controls can never work. Every time they have been tried, they have failed and people have been worse off because of them. And this has happened many times in history, going back to the time of the Sumerians in 3000 BC.
Telling a private company that it cannot increase its prices when its costs increase is more than stupid. It is asinine.
Faced with that prospect, a company has limited choices. It can reduce quality, decrease maintenance, decrease services, or go out of business.
If CUC cannot make ends meet, it will first cut back on services, then on maintenance. This means when you call for service your call will not be answered, or will be delayed. It means you can expect more electricity interruptions and brownouts.
Is this what Cayman wants? Does it want CUC to descend down to a third rate utility like other Caribbean countries enjoy?
Personally, I would rather pay what is needed than suffer power interruptions.
Remember again, there is no such thing as a free lunch.
There are two things that keep prices down…….. Competition and price controls. There is no competition in the electric power business on Grand Cayman. Sad, but true.
…so there is price control.
It is generally recognised that electricity transmission and distribution is not suited to a competitive model (which will cost the consumer more as they have to pay for twice the infrastructure) so prices must be regulated. They are in this case.
"Faced with that prospect, a company has limited choices. It can reduce quality, decrease maintenance, decrease services, or go out of business."
Or the shareholders could take lower dividends, right? Why doesn't this appear in your list of choices?
"Remember again, there is no such thing as a free lunch."
Unless you're a shareholder in CUC! My guess is their dividends will be higher in 2010 than in 2009.
You don't seem to get it. Investors invest in companies in order to make good returns on their investment. For the past several years good returns from CUC must be measured in dividends not in share price increases. If investors cease making good returns they cease investing and company loses capital. Then the rating agencies downgrade the stock and the company will find it much more expensive to raise capital which in turn raises the cost of doing business and must be covered by rates.
What is going to happen to all that money that consumers paid that may not be living in the same place?? I guess the landlords will recieve this "Rebate"..
Don't hold your breath!
I want some free stuff
Yeah! Free stuff for all!!
Such a pile of BS. CUC has been increasing it's rates and doing so apparently on it's own authority. I had never been made to understand that the last few rate hikes were done only with the approval of the ERA. I recall only reading in the newspapers that CUC was imposing yet ANOTHER rate hike ramming it down the country's throat and that was just that.
Someone please correct me if I am wrong.
incorrect
Not so. CUC cannot increase its rates on its own authority. Rates can only be increased in line with a price adjustment mechanism based on inflation. Last year there was no increase at all in rates.
I think you are confusing rate increases with fuel cost increases which are simply passed on. These increase when there is an increase in the cost of oil and if there is an increase in the rate of duty paid on the diesel imported. The first of these is largely outside CUC's or Govt's control but could be mitigated by hedging, while the second is controlled entirely by the government. Initially the govt. increased the rate of duty, but now it is choosing to roll that increase back.
"I recall only reading in the newspapers that CUC was imposing yet ANOTHER rate hike ramming it down the country's throat and that was just that." We all know that Cayman is a country that largely operates on assumptions and marl road gossip. Seldom do we operate using facts. So I invite you now to present the facts that support your argument. In which paper, on what day, in what year did you read about a CUC price hike? CayCompass.com has a WONDERFUL search engine for their archives. Anxiously awaiting your response.
Anonymous 12:04, you should put your real name on this comment so people would know if you're the electric company's CEO. If you aren't the CEO, what position with them do you have?
I’m flattered that you think I’m smart enough to run an entire publicly traded utility company! That’s awesome. I’ll add that to my list of possible career paths seeing as the one I’m on isn’t working out. But on the real, I work for the school of common sense where I’ve learnt that decisions, criticism, allegations etc should be based on facts, not the infamous Caymanian “I ga say it because Miss Madgie said that Jon Jon said it.”
Why is it you choose to attack the person rather than show why his points are incorrect? That is pure emotionalism.
The government should give those funds to a competing electricity company to start up here….only then will we see any form of decrease.
Remember the astronomical telephone bills from Cable and Wireless?
Oh, for a man with cajones like Linford Pierson again!
they are still astonomical, how many developed countries still charge for local calls. In the US and Canada I would be paying $50 for what I pay $400 here! Local calls are charged at what international calls are in Norht America, no free evenings and weekends which is BS and txts are 10 cents! Thank God I wasn't here when it was worse! CUC is a disgusting form of daylight robbery, anyone who doesn't see it needs to get out of Cayman for awhile and see what they are missing.
It's not all rosy in telecom in the U.S. While here in Cayman Lime and Digicel do not charge for you to receive calls on your mobile (as they did in the 1990s) they do charge you to receive them in the U.S. They seem to think that means they are "advanced". LOL.
Actually CUC's charges are not out of line with comparable jurisdictions and is significantly less than many in the Caribbean.
CUC has taken advantage of us for so long that we think of them as an abusive parent constantly beating a child and we continue to accept the abuse. It is a no win situation.
CUC puts out these ads saying how community conscious they are and how much money they donate to causes. This is false advertising at its best because we know that they have a license to print money and is the only company in the country guaranteed by the government to make a profit. If they don't, they just raise the fees to make up the shortfall. The shortfall in many cases could be the same money they are spending on these social programs. In essence they make us feel good like they are doing so much for the community when they are not even having to spend a dollar because it comes right back out of our pockets through higher utility bills.
They have no conscience and should start behaving like a good corporate citizen and lower the rates on their own without having to get government to subsidize them further.
You are all mixed up. CUC cannot just raise its rates to make up the shortfall. Its rates are set according to a price adjustment formula based on inflation and the range of return on rate base. Spending $100K on social programs does not mean that CUC will be able to raise its rates to recover $100K. It is not a pass through. That is simply not how it works. If inflation is zero (as it was last year) CUC will not get an increase regardless of how much it has spent on social programs.
Govt. is not subsidising CUC. Govt. charges a duty on diesel which is included in the fuel charges that the consumer is charged. Govt. plans to reduce the duty which will result in lower charges to consumers. CUC may benefit if it means that the lower cost will induce consumers to consume more electricity and therefore increase CUC's profits, but that is a matter within our hands as consumers.
CUC is actually one of our best corporate citizens.
At first, I thought this was just too stupid to even warrant a response….but I can't help myself.
First things first, CUC is and will always be a concerned, sensible, forward-looking corporate citizen. They have dramatically touched the lives of thousands of people, mostly children and special needs persons, over the years. Heck, I bet your children (if you have any) have benefitted from one of CUC's programmes in some way or another. Heard of PFL? The CUC track meet? Carifta games? Lighthouse School? Sunrise Adult Training Centre? NCVO? There is NOTHING FALSE about CUC's presence in Cayman's community! If you do your research, as I have done mine, you will see that CUC has been supportive of many of the key programmes on this island. Companies like CUC, LIME and CNB have made meaningful contributions to Cayman and are the backbone of many important programmes in Cayman. If you check out CUC's website, you can read about its wonderful volunteer programme where employees give of their personal time to make a difference in the community. Their employees deliver meals to the elderly, train and impart skills to up-and-coming footballers, assist special needs citizens etc. All at no cost to you.
Let me ask you Mufasa, have you considered the many Companies in Cayman that give nothing back to the country? Believe me, there are many businesses out there that fit into this category. And here you have a socially responsible company and you're still complaining! Typical resident of this country. Always wanting more. Enough is never enough. Gimme more, gimme more. Free lunch please! Oh, spare me.
Secondly, CUC's contributions to the community don't lead to any shortfalls or any increases in bills. Get your facts straight!
Thirdly, subsidize further?? Please produce evidence of the existing subsidy. As far as I know (and I consider myself reasonably knowledgeable) there is none.
I would go on, but I'll save my comments for people with facts.
you got that right "soon come"… but in who's lifetime though??
I do not agree with this subsidy in electricity costs. The cost of electricity is a funtion of the price of energy and if we subsidise the costs of electricity we will never progress to the place we need to be.
We need to be deriving the majority of our energy from wind and solar power, we will just be slowly bleeding ourselves to death by sending all of our national wealth overseas to the oil suppliers.
We must sacrifice now, we have a huge national debt to pay off, and we need to give the private sector all the encouragement they need to go into the renewable energy business.
By subsidising energy costs you are discouraging anyone, me, from going into the renewable energy business.
This is not a subsidy. Govt is artificially increased the costs of electricity by increasing duty on diesel back in 2009. It is now rolling that back.
Whats needed is opening the energy market up to competition
Wrong. Competition among companies that distribute electricity would increase costs to the consumer. T&D is a natural monopoly. Obviously it would mean two or more sets of poles and wires, transformers etc with a smaller number of consumers to pay for each set = higher prices.
People often make the mistake of comparing electricity with telecom. They are not the same. E.g. mobile service requires very little capital investment and with landline service once the infrastructure is in place costs will increase only marginally compared with revenue. I know that it feels emotionally satisfying to put thumbs down to this post, but those are the facts. You may not like them but they are correct.
Absolutely spot on! People are screaming for competition without knowing what, if any, benefits will be received from it. In the case of competition in the electricity industry in Cayman, the benefits, if any, will be minuscule at BEST. Most likely we'll end up paying more. People need to stop comparing seedless grapes to cocker spaniels (big difference huh?)!
I hope everyone reads this post and leaves with an understanding of the cost prohibitive nature of establishing and operating an electric utility.
I love Cocker Spaniels.
Wrong yourself. Competition in the energy market would lower prices, as CUC legally has a monopoly on transmission and distribution ONLY. However, open competition in the generation of electricity would allow, if a company had the reserve capital to create their own generation plants (diesel, natural gas, solar, wind, etc.) they would be able to enter a power purchase agreement with the distributor (CUC). If they were more efficient in power generation (in the case of alternative energy generation, from lack of fuel surcharges, for example), they would naturally force CUC to attempt to lower their energy generation costs to remain competitive. Otherwise, the new power generating company could win the lion's share of the generation of electricity and CUC would lose that aspect of their profits.
The problem most people have is that they don't realise CUC operates in two roles, as a generator AND a distributor. However, they are only legally protected as a distributor from competition. With a reasonable new generating company, CUC could be forced into entering a fair PPA by the ERA under threat of accumulating fines for not acting in the consumers' best interests.
Nothing in your post shows that anything that I said was wrong. Notice that I said nothing about generation of electricity. The fact is that the present regime allows for competition in generation. Bids were enteretained a couple of years ago. However it had to be called off due to lower demand forecasts. However, with a dwindling population and still in an economic recession the interest in providing competition is really not that high as it would be very difficult to generate electricity at lower costs than CUC given that CUC's infrastructure, staff etc. are already in place.
It is easy to speak of the benefits of competition in theoretical terms and it is more difficult when you are aware of the practical realities. You speak of "alternative energy generation". If you have a viable alternative energy source that will more cheaply generate reliable electric power then you should apply to the ERA for a generating licence. I thought not.
If I had the capital backing me, I'd do it in a heartbeat and be able to undercut CUC's generating aspects by at least 30%. They could produce the electricity for less, but once you factor in their fuel fees, my net cost to the consumer would be lower. Go do some basic research on energy costs in other jurisdictions with alternative sources and compare it to what we pay once fuel is factored in.
That sound slike B.S. What is the "alternative energy source" that you are referring to?
I have already done the basic research among comparable jurisdictions (which will obviously not include those which have viable alternative sources e.g. hydro-electricity or nuclear power). Our overall electricity costs come in the middle of the pack.
Check out the costs for electricity generated from the power towers in Seville. It's a lower rate than what we pay here once fuel is factored into the price. We also get more direct sun than they do. That's just one option for the "alternative" sources the poster you responded to you might mean. Ignore nuclear because we'd still have issues of waste and shipping (not to mention it's outlawed as a viable source here). The wind and sun don't need to be shipped, and come out below the 37 cents or so we pay here for a kilowatt hour of electricity.
Solar power cannot provide reliable electricity whether it is in Seville or Cayman. That is not an alternative to diesel power generation. Wind is also not a reliable source of power particularly here on Grand Cayman which is low lying. Even in Jamaica where there is the appropriate elevation the wind farm has a rated capacity of 20.7MW but it in fact only produces about 7 MW. There is the danger to birds small aircraft as well as the noise generated by these turbines.
Of course if you really believe solar and wind are viable alternatives then apply for a licence and start generating.
I dont knowwhat subsidy you are referring to. Government increased the cost of electricity when it increased the duty on imported fuel. From what I understand the Government is simply reducing the duty back to its original 25 cents per gallon and earning the money elsewhere. No subsidy as far as I am concerned. I do agree however that we need to take a serious look at alternative energy and stop feeding our economy to the oil producing nations.
Finally! Someone with some sense that understands what's really going on. Only one correction, they're reducing the duty to its original 50 cents, not 25 cents.
The duty had originally been 50 cents but had been reduced to 25 cents by the PPM Govt.
So what happens to those of us whose light bills have tripled since this time last year – for no good reason whatsoever? We should continue to get ripped off so that you who can afford to be ripped off can continue to get rich while we the less fortunate continue to suffer. Umm NO – I don't agree with that one. Sorry.
This is not a subsidy, CUC is allowed to make double digit PROFIT from their contract with the CI Govt. The ERA is in the back pocked of CUC too, so dont get your hopes up for fair-priced power until competition comes or TRUE net meter sell back energy exists in Cayman.
sometimes I wish oil was $200 dollar a barrel…then maybe cayman would be taught a lesson and the backward mentality of energy production here might actually change
I will believe it when I see it!