CUC bills going up
(CNS): Despite the hefty fuel bills that consumers on Grand Cayman already face due to duty and high oil prices, the local Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) has approved an increase in the basic rate CUC charges customers, which will take effect this month. The ERA confirmed that it has approved an application made by the monopoly electricity supplier in April to increase the rate by 1.8%, further squeezing hard hit consumers. The ERA board said the increase applies only to the CUC base rate, which is being increased from 10.46 to 10.65 cents CI per kWh. This rate equates to about one third of the typical monthly CUC bill, the board noted, so the increase will translate to around 0.5% of a total bill.
As per the law, one of the main functions of the ERA is to "monitor and regulate all licensees in a manner that promotes sustainable competitive practices; provides an opportunity for a fair and reasonable return to licensees; and protects the economic interests and well-being of consumers by keeping tariffs and rate structures as low as can reasonably be achieved," the board said in a release Tuesday.
The ERA added that CUC submitted the application for a base rate hike on 2 April in accordance withthe Rate Cap and Adjustment Mechanism (RCAM) described in Condition 25 of the CUC Transmission and Distribution (T&D) Licence.
“[T]he RCAM is based on a formula that incorporates readily available external data to determine the Price Level Index,” the board stated. “The RCAM is calculated using the most recent CUC audited financial statements to calculate CUC’s permitted return on rate base and a weighted average consisting of 60% of the Cayman Islands Consumer Price Index (CI CPI) and 40% of the United States of America Consumer Price Index (US CPI).”
The board said that these indices are adjusted to remove the effects of prices of food and fuel, as reported by independent authorities for the most recent calendar year.
“On review and confirmation of the CUC audited financial reports, the CI and US CPI reports, the 2012 CUC Return on Rate Base and June 2013 Base Rate Adjustment calculations, the ERA approved the CUC 1.8% Rate Base increase on May 10, 2013 which, as a result of 2012 inflation in both the Cayman Islands and the USA, CI CPI and US CPI of 1.0% and 1.9% respectively the Required Rate Adjustment as per Condition 25 of the CUC T&D Licence equates to 1.8%,” the board said in justification for its decision.
While only a small overall hike, many people in Cayman are already fighting hard to find the money for their light bills and, as the islands head towards the hottest time of year, the battle to keep fuel bills down just got a little harder.
An informational insert detailing how this change will affect the various Consumer Classes has been included in CUC June 2013 Billings, officials said.
More information about the CUC T&D Licence, the Rate Cap Adjustment Mechanism or the ERA, please visit the CUC website or the ERA website.
Category: Local News
Lets solve this by simply doing a "Lights Off Weekend"
Lets all cut off the braker box on Saturday morning and turn them back on Monday morning.
Buy candles, lamps and so on and think as if an hurricaine had hit. You will have to live like this anyway because you can 't find the money now to pay and look here an increase again.
Go to the beach, hang out at friends who are rich and don't want to take part in the lights off.
Shame on you CUC
I wish we could get a system in place like they do in little cayman, pay as you go.
People have lived and worked in Cayman for many, many years. People were able
To live without air conditioning for a long time. Cayman is very temperate as the average
Year round temperature is 85 degrees F. The fact the you spend your hard earned bucks
On A/C at 70 degrees F is your choice and not a rite. I only use 1 small window A/C for 15 min.
In da bedroom each night to cool the room a bit. No A/C in da res of da house and no problems.
We are very comfortable and we enjoy the cool breezes in the evening. Try it, you might like it
And save some hard earned cash in the meantime.
I hear you. However, there are many people who have more lavish life-styles than others. Some folks don't even have windows that open in their house so it is imperitive for them to run their ac. Also, the fact is many people want to be comfortable especially after working all day and feeling stressed and tired. We should not have to give-up our comfortablility because CUC is raping us. They need to stop the madness and stop now!
No-one is going to turn off their ac in the SUMMER for any length of time and as we all know once you turn off your ac when you turn it back on it works twice as hard to cool the place down again. i.e costing you more $$$
Talk about an entitlement mentality! 'I am not going to cut back on my usage; I should be free to do as I please but not accountable to bear the cost; CUC must cut back on their rates and subsidise me!'. Wow. You can see why we have problems in this country.
The timing of it ticks me off more than anything. My CUC bill went up $200 last month. Summer is coming. It is only going to get warmer. If I want to keep my house at 78 then I have to use more kwh and have a bigger bill. The rate increases always seem to come at the beginning of summer just in time for when people's kwhs are going to increase. We are doing what we can to reduce our bill but are fighting a losing battle against the weather. We unplug things when not in use and have started setting the a/c to 82 now so we can deal with the heat of the summer without going broke. 🙁
What ever happened to the unanimous decision in the Legislative Assembly to change the laws to introduce net metering. http://www.compasscayman.com/story.aspx?id=97602
Robbery! Oil and gas prices has reduced over the past year and did CUC pass these savings onto us? No! But oil prices go up and here they raising the price!
Plain and simple this is robbery!
You would have seen the fuel factor change on your bill, you can work out the total cost per KwH by looking at your bill and dividing the amount by the Kwh used. So whilst I don't like paying the increase at least have a go at them for the right things.
and it still continues…shall i remind everyone 11/09/2004 when Hurricane Ivan wrecked havoc here? CUC was the only ones that profitted on us and the past Government allowed it. Now we have a new government and the samething is happening..my gosh how much more of a profit do they want to make???? Oil prices have dropped so why on earth has CUC been allowed to increase prices…thought you couldn't pay your bills before…wait till next month
Can’t be hurting to bad, I donot see anybody turning off the AC or hanging clothes out to dry, so stop whining .
Most people live in strata complexes. And most complexes have bye-laws against clothes lines. And Solar is very expensive on this island. And this is just panels and installation. You still have to pay insurance and maintenance over the years. So it is very tough all around.
Do you see anyone living without electricity ? I see lots of those, elderly and small children included!
Maybe you missed that MEMO
Yes, isn't CUC sly.
New electronic metering on new houses. Not the old spin wheel kind. And the new electronic meters are not net metered. So you cannot put solar panels on your house. Unless you want to request the net metering devices. Which I am sure, will cost you something.
Otherwise, if you try to put solar panels on your house with non net metered meters. The meter does not roll back. So you get zero credit for putting electricity back into CUC's grid.
Awesome.
This is actually not true there is a Feed In Tariff (FIT) program in place that allows you to sell solar or wind generated power back into the grid. A separate meter is installed that measures the power going back into the grid and you receive a credit on your bill for the power you produce. I have solar panels on my house and I get a good credit every month. I produce nearly half the power my home uses every month from my solar system. I highly recommend anyone look into doing this. It takes a bit of financing but it is very worthwhile!
People, it is time we have a major DEMONSTRATION against this MERCILESSNESS by CUC. If that's not a good idea then it's time for a REVOLUTION against them.
This is just gone past MADNESS now man.
Shocking but not surprising. They do it every summer & no doubt we will have power outs because they also can't cope with summer usage as the equipment is so old. Would think with all the profit they make from us poor folk they would upgrade so it's more efficient and cost effective!!!! Just a thought.
"Indignant populist rhetoric": Thank you SAM PUTT PUTT. I might have read right past that last line if I was as ignorant as you probably think all Caymanians are. How foolish of you. To class everyone who is a native Caymanian, not local, yes there's a difference as one group of ignorant people who don't know anything. I do not appreciate what you are implying nor do I appreciate your tone sir. Your breakdown of costs etc are perfectly fine but the last line was uncalled for and a low blow by any mean.
How long have you been living here in Grand Cayman sir? Where are you from?
These are questions that will give me and other readers insight as to the value of your opinion on this matter. Afterall, for someone who has spent a few years here working and living versus the native caymanian born and raised here; is different to how the daily changes in our economy affect us. Don't mock us because we are disgruntled and intolerant of such costs going up. The burden we carry (and i don't expect you to understand what this means) is ours alone for our people and our country. If you don't mind CUC jacking up prices whether by a penny or by a dollar then do not have a word to say. Pay your excessive bills and carry on but you should know there are people out there who do not make much of a salary and struggle every month to pay their CUC bills. Truth is simple, some folks CANNOT afford to pay one cent more towards their CUC bill. Your empathy is now welcomed!
And you, Madam or Mister are an Idiot, as evidenced by the mental "jump to conclusion" you were able to complete by responding to a general statement about "Populist" anything, with such inflammatory and misplaced nationalistic fervor! To interpret "Indignant populist rethoric" to be in any way classifying "native Caymanians", is a leap that not many would care to attempt, unless of course you have an ulterior motive for doing so.Good luck with that!
Does anyone know how CUC buys its oil? Does it have traders that use futures and thingsto hedge against price rises or does it just pay the prevailing market rate and pass the cost straight on to us?
The entire Caribbean, EXCEPT Cayman buys it's oil from Venezuela, on the excuse that "we don't wanna upset the USA"…that is BS..we have to buy oil from the US, because years ago, certain persons in CIG signed contracts that force us to buy oil from them or face sanction…if the public only knew the behind the scenes workings they would be outraged why we are forced to pay through the nose for oil and gas…where else in the Caribbean you see gas selling for the equivalent of of $7 US ??
Under the Venezuela oil "deal" the contracting government pays the Venezuelan government the market price of oil with a portion of the price deferred as a low interest loan. At the end of the day you still pay market price.
To: Submitted by Rorschach on Wed, 06/12/2013 – 10:24. Where can we see copies of these contracts?
What quality of oil do you get from Venezuela? Does it have high sulphur content? Is high sulphur content corrosive to metals?
"Mr. Hew also said CUC had received approval to hedge fuel up to 40 per cent of its annual fuel requirements. Hedging fuel is a strategy that involves buying a certain quantity of fuel to protect against market fluctuations in oil prices".
http://www.compasscayman.com/caycompass/2011/10/14/Premier–Gov-t-not-at-fault-for-power-bills/
Buying forward fuel is not hedging – its locking in the forward price. Sheesh.
Futures can hedge, but it means you are locking in a price, which may help or hurt. Futures just reduce volatility, but its 50/50 as to whether the hedge is beneficial. If you lock in a price now, and oil prices decrease, then you end up losing. I know of some organizations (outside of Cayman) that are paying $120 for their oil still as a result of hedges they put in place.
If they useda zero cost collar they would remove the volatility without the downside risk or the cost (alebit they would sacrifice upside). But that would require someone to know WTF they were doing – sad on an island supposedly packed with financial sector rocket scientists.
Pretty sure they used to just pay and charge the customers, I did read that they hedged at one point but as they hedged around $140 a gallon they managed to get that timing wrong, and we paid for that as well…
Yes, $140 per gal would have been disastrous! lol. $140 per barrel of oil would have been excellent.
That's it! I am offically going to get some car batteries and place them in my attic, then hook them up to my fridge and entertainment center !!! Viola !!! No bills needed except fire insurance!
Please let us know how successful your (official) approach is.
Sounds rediculous, but I know someone in Cayman who has done just that
If you are really serious, spend $4000 — $1500 for a 24-volt Sundanzer fridge/freezer (superefficient), $1500 for one 175-watt solar panel and wiring, and $1000 for back-up batteries. The Sundanzer can run from six hours of decent sun, including keeping freezer stuff frozen overnight, and the batteries can be used on rainy days. Invest an additional $750 for a very small wind genny and you don't have to worry about cloudy/rainy days, plus have power to spare for many other things. Once the Sundanzer is to temperature, if it looses power, it can still maintain temps for two days, due to its excellent insulation. That will save you about $150/month, making your breakeven point at a little over two years.
And you are going to charge the batteries how?
Sparky's one damn sick turtle! Look how yellow he is!
Seriously, CUC can boast that they made a profit of $20million in 2011 and they are going to raise the rates again after pocketing that much from the poor people in this country. It is ridiculous, this monopoly business mustbe put in it's place. Clearly, the contract they have is flawed and goes against good commerce. Let's revisit it, tweak it and if they object, well start looking to do them just what we did to the Telecom businesses.
CUC act like pirates!
But we celebrate piracy. We even have a whole week for it. What's the prob?
Hey, if you can negotiate a new licence where they get no rate increases and/or have to absord increases in the price of fuel I am all for it! Good luck with that!
this is why this country is going down because it people like you who dont know the facts asnd hear things from so and so and then base your opions on that. what would all you people do if you didnt have CUC fan unna self of with a piece of thatch? maybe you should go talk to the fromer government about why they raised the taxes on the oil and that is why the CUC bills keep going up its not because they want to become richer its other people around them who blame it on them to save them selves from all this.
Did it ever gone down?
They've never made that high a return. If their return goes to 13% then you can look for a rate reduction. In 2011 there was no change at all because CPI was flat.
Can we start by revoking the exclusive Transmission and Distribution License CUC currently holds PLEASE.
Do you know of someone who would like to install poles and run lines from your house to CUC or elsewhere?
That would be fun. Imagine if your power company just didn’t serve your street. This is not an option. It’s their lines and impossible to achieve multiple company distribution.
its more like our lines as we paid an Ivan surcharge for their damaged property (poles, lines, and genators) for nearly 3yrs – remember that Cayman. I wish i could get that money back in rebate $$$$! Fact check that!
It is incredible that years later people still do not understand this issue although it has been adequately explained many times. Let me break it down for you in the hope that you and others will finally get it.
Under CUC's licence in force in 2004 it was entitled to a return on rate base of 15%. In fact, as a result of Hurricane Ivan, its return on rate base was only 5.5% and it was therefore entitled to a rate increase of 9.5%. In 2005 the then newly elected PPM govt. indicated that such an increase would be unacceptable and entered into negotiations with CUC. The result of those negotiations was that rather than a PERMANENT increase to its rate base of 9.5% CUC would accept a TEMPORARY surcharge of 4.7% until such time as $13m had been collected at which time it would cease. The surcharge was terminated in January, 2008 when only $11m had been collected as part of the negotiations for a new licence for CUC.
I trust you understand that (a) CUC was not given a gift but in fact received less than they were entitled to; (b) you were not robbed of anything and you don't own CUC's infrastructure any more than you own the stock of a supermarket because you paid increased prices to cover the costs of their uninsured damage; (c) 4.7% is less than half of 9.5%; (d) temporary is much better than permanent.
Now please cut the cr@p.
I cannot believe there are actually 35 idiots agreeing with this.
1. If you revoke their licence no power will be generated or distributed to anyone. Cayman closes down. Financial sector, hotels, homes etc..
2. There is no basis for revoking their licence. They have made a claim in accordance with their licence. Such an attempted action would meet with a huge claim for damages by CUC.
the PPM are off to a great start. whatever happened to reducing our cost of living?more empty Campaign promises.
wait for the first 100 days before criticising them. give them a chance
So are they going to revoke the CUC increase after or during these 100 days?
I think not, get used to more broken promises.
You can't just "revoke" the increase. CUC is contractually entitled to it. And it really isn't that big of a deal – a couple of dollars added to your bill.
"a few dollars added onto your bill not that big a deal". Does your mother pay your bill for you sweetie? Because anyone who is paying for their own sh** today ain't feeling good about this increase.
I am paying more than the average. The difference is that I am an informed, calm, rational person not given to participating in lynch mob thinking.
For crying out loud they've only been in office a week and you thought that the cost of living would have been reduced already?! They don't have a magic wand, you know. smh.
This agreement was signed a couple of weeks before the election sanctioned by who???? Yes, McKeeva's crew. Please don't start blaming the PPM yet. The previous govt. did this and I wonder why they would enter into such an agreement such a short time before the election???
Joey please talk to your bobo for us na. PPM will deliver I hope, just giving you guys some time to settle in your new positions, we need to see action soon. ok.
Come on folks – just think of it as another nail in our coffin…
Eat, drink, be merry and turn up that a/c – cause a lot of our church people going to be somewhere that is really really hot when they croak…
Never knew we had so many poor mathematicians. Here's a simple way to calculate what is a very simple solution.
10.65 – 10.46 = 0.19 cents x 1200 = 228 cents = $2.28 which is the dividends per share for shareholders of CUC stock.
Just thinking.
No problem understanding the math it's just that I can't afford to give CUC not even 1 cent more!!!!
But it's OK to give everyone else lots more? Do you raise the same ruckus when the bank hits you with $5 and $10 charges for "administrative costs"? Or when the price of milk goes up by $1.00?
Actually, I have since bought a safe to keep my $$$ locked at home verses paying as much of the bank fees as my pay goes to the bank regardless. I've also switched to buying "Favourite" milk verses McArthur to save a few cents. Plan B was to invest in the purchase of a cow and milk it my gad dang self!
funny guy/gal!
We have to come together and stop the increasing already high electrical bills .. Protest time is well over due ! We complain to our leaders and nothing has been done… Time for us to demand lower !!
We need to go Nuclear
you're insane.
I suggest you research Toshiba Fusion Reactors.
Did they build the ones in Japan – you know the centre of the disaster in Japan following the Tsunami?
No, but they are planning one in a small town in remote Alaska, and they are a modern version of what runs some of the latest submarines. No control rods or moving parts, no possibility of a meltdown – just a constant 20+ year burn – all underground with a very small footprint..
No. Entirely different design, and far older technology. Should also look at pebble bed type reactors – safe, contained, 250MW output – just about right. Only problem – only people making them now are the Chinese! McKeeva missed an opportunity there!
We can't even deal with our simple household trash and you're suggesting we head to nuclear power? What would an island as small as ours do with the waste generated? Where would we put such a facility? Why would you want such an eyesore on our landscape.
Cayman can take advantage of solar power and wind power, which are two far cleaner methods of energy generation. Additionally, we live in the Caribbean – we have essentially 12 hours of sunlight a day, 365 days a year. Nuclear power is a ridiculous suggestion, but having houses and businesses on the island even have 1 or 2 solar panels on their roofs is not an unreasonable goal.
Fusion reactor would be better suited, then we could sell on the valuable and increasingly rare Helium produced to the US to make a fortune.
yea but dad … don't spakey and nukes cause a bad chemical reaction ?
I agree we need to go Nuclear…. should that be a Nuclear Power Plant or BOMB???
CUC implored residents to conserve to cut their bills. Residents did so, because I saw them publish that consumption was down. Logically it follows if consumption goes down, then revenue goes down and so does profits. Is this what CUC turns and does when residents try to lower their bills. Companies need to have a moral conscience too. Not just because they are entitled to a raise under their contract that they should do so. They are not losing money, but many people are struggling in a recession to stay afloat and this is what our energy provider would do to us in hard times? It is rediculous. Government should step in and negotiate with them to withdraw the increase.
FACTS: CUC made 7% net income (on $232 million of net income). This is from their audited financial statements. If they cut rates by 7%, they break even. So, they arent earning much on their sales. Face it, they have to import oil to provide power to aremote island. Its not a cheap endeavor.
What we need here is a revolution. Too long these companies having reaping huge profits whilst the poor people suffer. Everyone should stop using electricity for a couple of days per week and see how much profits the would gain then? We survived without power during and after Ivan so I don’t see why we shouldn’t do without just to make a statement.
Besides their service sucks power going down on a regular basis and when your appliances crash they don’t even want to accept the blame!
It’s relly disgusting to live here. Anywhere else in the world prices are set accordingly to supply and demand not the other way around!
Actually in most places in the world the cost of energy generation and transmission infrastructure are so high that a monopoly supplier is involved, with a government regulator setting the rates. Guess what – exactly the position here.
NO what we need in this country is some people with sense
Folks get serious…if your bill was $100 last month it will only move to $101.80 this month. The group you need to be discussing the fuel factor with is government who is sticking to us.
Fuel is approxdimately 70% of our monthly bill. The government's tax on fuel is approx 25% of the fuel costs or 17.5% of your bill.
If government removes 25cents from the duty, dropping from75c to 50c, your bill will drop by almost 6% instantly!!
In other words your bill would go from $101.80 to approx $95.70! The problem is not in CUC's $1.80 addition but in the $17.50 government tacks on to it.
PPM promised us to lower this tax so now please deliver.
Actually if your bill was $100 last month it would move to $100.50 a 0.5% increase according to the ERA release.
I only run my a/c at 5PM to 8AM, but my bill ius CI$800 month (yes, admit during bteer times we bought a 3,600 sq ft large 4 bed drafty house -pre-Ivan build- with no decent insulation and poor zone a/c units, but I cannot afford to replace a/c and adding insulation will also cost $$$)
Sorry, but CUC going out to secure an overseas loan for new equipment is in CNS one day, 53% profits the next, and then announce rates GOING UP?!?
PPM is is time to STOP this. Sorry, we cannot afford to buy the stock and profit like our local fat cats.
Yes, the PPM and UK must come up with a way of CUC bills relief to the average person. (please!)
Most people are seeing 25% or more of the salary going to electricity bills and that isjust wrong.
I suggest you get a ductless split system for one room — 20,000 BTU. With installation about $1000, and ONLY use a/c in that room (in my case, the bedroom). Do so, and watch your power bill drop $200 or more. Our ductless split is very efficient, and draws about 2 amps at peak. Good stuff. excellent investment, paid for itself in six months.
PPM HAS come up with a policy – reduce the taxes on fuel. Be grateful instead of complaining.
If 25% of your salary is going on electricity bills then you are living above your means and need to retrench. A family earning $6,000 per month should not be spending $1,500 on electricity bills. Get a smaller house.
Seriously. So sick of this. Fed up. Lifeis getting really crappy in cayman. Golden years are over. Its just one fee hike after another. It needs to end. Period. Its all going to collapse at some point. An island of rich elitists can’t survive without people to serve them and cut their lawns.
message to the comment posted "06/11/2013 – 18:30" – " Lifeis getting really crappy in cayman". Seriously????? Go move to Syria or North Korea if you feel you are so hard done by. You don't know how lucky you are……..get real!
We live in Cayman, what are you saying, this is not a war zone, we are a peaceful country being torn apart by greed and corruption..
There is no free lunch. Electricity is expensive on little islands. Get over it.
I don't think anyone on here is suggesting a "free lunch" as you stated. People are tired of trying to make ends meet and tired of receing disconnection notices. Ask anyone who has lived here long enough (usually only 6+months) will tell you its CUC who is raping this country and CUC is the reason we can't save our money etc. Our light bills are all too high! If it ain't the electricity its the damngas prices! Both are seriously an issue!
CUC is actually receiving a modest return on its investment: 7-9%. You are paying for the high cost of fuel. What do you expect – a licence where there is never a rate increase and the cost of fuel is absorbed by the company? Prices increase. That's life generally, but especially in Cayman. All of this hysteria is getting you nowhere.
Must be Darts fault.
When oil price goes up, so goes electricity.
When oil price goes down, electricity stays the same.
Shareholders (mainly wealthy caymanians) want to see return on their investment, so rates go up.
Electricity, water, phone and insurance should be governmental, so no need to make profit, therefor lower rates.
I disagree..as rough as it is with CUC and CWA, can you imgaine how much it would cost and how bad the service would be if it was run CIG…the one entity that proves time and time again that efficiency, profit and customer service are things that they know nothing about???
I come from a country where the utilities are governmental .
Of course government will be less efficient, but still cheaper than greedy shareholders who have only ONE goal.
E.g. in Costa Rica car tax is 70$ which includes third party insurance. Try that in a privatised economy.
Why do they always seem to increase rates during the hot summer months when consumption is up??? Why not do it in winter – oh yah because they won’t make as much money!
I guess a MILLION dollars a month profit isn’t enough, what happened to the efficient management?
Oh we’re is our premier now?. Promises.. Promises…. Promises… Immediate cut in fuel,prices and electrify bills, well guess what an increase in electricity and soon increase in fuel… All I can say is Lie..Lie..Lie.. Same old politics.
Mr Joey hew, can you have a word with your brother to see WTF is going on? Sorry we all know the answer Profit..Profit..Profit.. Means bonuses.bonuses..bonuses.
What next?
Jeez! The new government got elected exactly THREE weeks ago! You honestly thought everything would be changed/fixed in three weeks? Policies, licences, laws etc. can take years to change! You sound like an unrealistic voter and, as such, NO government will ever work for you!
If gowermint don’t screw us over CUC definitely will!
What a complete and utter disgrace! I mean to tell you…CUC and their Board of Director's hould hang their heads in shame. I do not care what spin and colourful calculations Mr. Hew comes up with to explaon this, because you know he/they will, as it is just downright wrong. Plain and simple. I need a lil spiked cup ya now.
I am a CUC shareholder. I am happy to see the price of electricity rise. I am looking forward to fat dividend cheques. Woo Hoo!
CUC's dividend payout hasn't changed since before Hurricane Ivan…….
So whats the dividend payout normally per share? Just curious
Learning about this news puts me into hyper-depression.
Then you are hyper-sensitive.
yes, hyper-sensitive about the price increase, as I am a price sensitive driven customer when it comes to a basic need.
You all live on an island that has to import oil to generate electricity. What sort of price do you expect to pay for a good service? Do you want some income tax so it can be subsidised?
Winston and PPM promised to roll back the duty on CUC so that bills would go down.
I guess they will do that soon. Unless joey hew convinces them otherwise.
I want them to stop importing oil and use what God has given us! Sun, Breeze and Water! In all the years CUC has been doing this they have done absolutely ZERO to ease the burden on the consumer. Until reciently they refused to even allow you to use alternate energy and also be hookked up to the grid. CUC and the CIG have both stood in the way of feasable solar power. Truth be told CUC is fine with us consumers paying for 5% line loss, as if they would install alternate energy farms in the outer districts, the line loss would be substancially less and they could realize approprate profits, while our electricity bills would go down measurably because there would be no fuel cost. Yep thats right, no fuel cost! there is the key to why we are still burning imported diesel, no fuel burnt means no duty paid = gov't doesn't want alternat energy in Cayman!
Easier said than done. Its costly but you also then have to deal with planning and electrical inspectors. Its less heartache to pay the bills.
Bobo, there is an mob mentality on this subject. Don't even try to introduce reasoned discussion.
Holy crap my butt is seriously starting to hurt! And I am supposed to be satisfied or appreciate their position by them saying they are sticking to me just a itty bitty bit harder! Seriously! I am so freaking sick of hearing the CS and CUC. CUC needs to make their approved profit, CS want their cost of living wage increase… Here in the real world there are those of us who have taken a 50% pay cut, been out of work for months… and we would love to be breaking even, and have a job that paid us what we made even 4 years ago! Can't afford health insurance, I have had to borrow money for the last 3 months to pay the rent, and I have no idea where the money is coming from to pay CUC and buy food, and these selfish money hungy POS have the nerve to 1) ask for a rate increase and 2) the board has the nerve to approve it! I would beg those big wigs to walk a day in my shoes, and I would dare them to walk a day in the shoes of those who have it worse than me.
when CUC claims that they havent made a profit they can go running to the Regulatory Authority and Bam all of a sudden fees increase . Who do we complain to when we cant afford to pay the bills and need a salary increase NO ONE PPM step up and do something about these fees Poor People is Fed up with CUC Crap.
That is not actually how it works. It is almost automatic and also depends on inflation. If inflation is flat there is no rate increase regardless of how poorly CUC has done.
It was the PPM that areed on the license that is in EFFECT ! it was the Action Men and some other Brilliant minds that agreed to the 23 year license renewal !
The licence commenced in April, 2008 for a period of 20 years i.e. 15 years remaining.
Please explain what your brilliant mind would have the licence say exactly.
It should only be for a term of 5 years? Do you realise that the shorter the period of amortisation of costs the more the consumer pays?
That there should never be a rate increase for the next 20 years?
That CUC should absord the cost of the fuel required to generate electricity?
Do you understand that NO company would ever undertake such a business here on those terms because they would be bankrupt before you could say "jackrabbit"?
Smh.
Please note it was the PPM who signed off on the last CUC contract. So exactly would you like the PPM to do now?
I bet you if they had another utility company competing with them, they would be thinking twice before raising cost. But because they are the only ones on the island, and canturn your light off as a threat to make you pay, they feel like they can get away with anything. Who can afford to take CUC to court? They will win their cases and certain politicians I have heard, are allies with the company. They feel they have the upper hand and no one is government will challenge them. I won't be surprise if PPM shy away from bringing in another utility company to compete with CUC.
When are we going to see alternative energy source power generation?
Cayman has an abundance of sunshine for solar and good steady winds for wind power, all year round.
Until some form of competition exists, we will continue to take our licks from CUC.
You seem to have missed the news that Dart is now the competition for generating electricity. It is open to anyone to generate their own solar (or wind) power.
We need someone to compete with CUC other than Dart. Because Dart is another serious issue. Dart is all about running Cayman. So if we allow Dart to take over CUC, then we have accomplished nothing, and perhaps have made it even worse, because Dart will control the cost. CUC seroiusly need more than one competitor that is concern about running an electrical company solo – not a businessman like Dart that wants to run the entire island!
We have to do it ourselves. My cousin got a loan for $15,000 and installed his own solar and wind generation system. He's still not completely off the grid, but his power costs have fallen from $550/month to $100. At the ever-escalating rates of island power, he broke even in 4 1/2 years. The only downside is if/when storms come, he has to take everything down. Yes, it's insured, but that doesn't make him whole if a hurricane takes everything away. We have to make intelligent choices for ourselves. I plan to do the same very soon. Nearly everywhere else in the world, the government WANTS you to generate your own power, and gives a person credits for doing so. Here, our government is tied into CUC, and there is no interest in promoting user-generated power. We just have to do it ourselves.
I am interested but my cost estimates are higher than your cousins. What KW size panels are you talking about?
What this article omits to say is the level of CUC's return on rate base. If CUC is receiving an increase equal to 100% of the CPI increase as the article suggests this means its return lies somewhere between 7% and 9%. At this level of return under its old licence CUC would have been receiving a rate increase of between 6% and 8% rather than 1.8%.
The rate per kilowatt hour here in New Jersey, USA is a tiny $0.066363636.
Wonder what it is in Cayman?
In NJ where you have access to electricity generated from coal, hydro and nuclear plants and cots is spread among millions. Not exactly a fair comparison.
…and with a heavy Government subsidy allowing it to be supplied below cost of either generation or transmission (but the anti CUC lynch mob, all worked up into their frenzy, don't like to be confused by any real facts).
the article clearly states 'the CUC base rate, which is being increased from 10.46 to 10.65 cents CI per kWh."
If you can't read the article at least read some of the other comments.
http://centos6-httpd22-php56-mysql55.installer.magneticone.com/o_belozerov/31115drupal622/local-news/2013/06/11/cuc-bills-goings#comment-294495
Now you can stick that in your cap and call it macaroni!
10.46 cents, now being raised to 10.65 cents per kilowatt hour.
You are getting confused by the numbers – your rate is US$0.066363636 or US6.64 cents.
Our rate is 10.46 increasing to 10.65 cents CI per kWh which converts to US12.60 cents to US12.83 cents.
I think you were suggesting our rate is 10.46 and yours is 0.066 which, of course, would be an exponentially enormous difference – luckily for us in Cayman, that comparison is incorrect.
….and most of that is piped in from Niagra falls!!! Your company does nor require to provide not even 100% peak capacity because you pipe it in from Canada…we are a totally different scenario here.
Go and live in New Jersey then.
I do. Heh heh heh. God bless the USA!
OMG what the Beep Beep is these people thinking about. We will all soon have to go back to oil lamps this is ridiculos CUC needs compition and bad.
14:53, that sounds like a plan, at least for hurricane season. Get proficient in survivng with no electricity during hurricane season thereby saving yourself thousands of dollars!
I have a Tilley Lamp and I am going to buy another.
The base rate is being increased from 10.46 cents to 10.65 per kwh. For the average residential consumer who consumes about 1,200 kwh per month this will increase his/her monthly bill by $2.28.
1,200 x (10.65-10.46) = $228 NOT $2.28. So it serves a greater impact on people than you think!
Dear Mathemetically Challenged, that's 10.65 CENTS minus 10.46 CENTS. The difference is measured in fractions of one cent. You need to divide your answer by 100 to get the dollar amount.
Obviously no one's bill is going to increase by $228 and certainly not the average consumer's.
Lol. Ummm… for the average consumer that would be a 100% increase on their total bill, not 0.5%, dimwit.
Someone is consuming dollars with cents, methinks!
So if ur earning 3.00 dollars arn hour ya go figure
Nope. You are confusing 10.65 cents – 10.46 cents with $10.65 – $10.46. Like CNS said the difference will be about 0.5% of your total bill. So if your total bill is usually $400 the difference will be $2.00.
Seriously? You are expecting your monthly to go up by $228? lol.
You missplaced the decimals, so the $2.28 figure is correct. I just want to see true net metering so solar has a chance of being economic.
Those numbers are cents so your equation should read:-
($0.1065-$0.1046)x1200 = $2.28
alternatively you could consider your equation correct and the result you achieved was 228 cents which of course equals $2.28
But $228 is definitely very wrong.
cents? dollars? basic math? i think u have bigger problems than ur CUC bill!
The increase is 0.19 of a cent not 19 cents. You didn’t place your decimal point. Looks like 2.28. .??
The rate is 0.1065 per kWh not $10.65
Do try and use a calculator next time. 10.65 CENTs – 10.46 CENTs means .19 of a single CENT per kilowat hour times 1200 kwh = $2.28 NOT $228.
Somebody please tell me how CUC can record profits quarter after quarter yet still be given permission by the ERA to increase their base rate. This is ridiculous. The government are the only ones to blame by still allowing this monopoly. Thank you Cayman Islands Government and CUC for further seeing over the public
And you expect a company not to make profits??..crazy comments….but your power goes out for 30 minutes I am sure you are the first on the phone acting crazy. Enjoy what we have here which is first class service provided by mainly Caymanian employees. I sure dont mind paying an extra $2.50 on my bill to cover this.
Spot on….the deal with CUC is a very poor one.
To be clear, it is much improved on the previous one but it is a license to print money with no incentive to make the organisation more incentive.
Basically if they use big clunky machinery they get a return based on the cost of big clunky machinery. If they find a way to generate off lower fixed assets they have to lower the total $ profit they generate.
Look at the efficiency stats in their reports..no material improvement to custoerm per staff member or kWh per staff member – a fat bloated organisation.
Executive share options for CUC are a joke. They are a tried and trusted mechanism to incentivise Executives to run the business better and deliver increased shareholder returns and penalise them when they deliver below par returns. The contract basically guarantees returns so it shoudl be nigh impossible to deliver superior returns so the options shoudl never be exerciseable. The fatc that they are means thisis just another piece of the Executives 'guaranteed' salary…what a joke!
Also NB this base rate increase is a tax on the poor. It hits the first 1/3 of a typical bill according to CNS. That means that those with smaller bills are going to see a higher %age increase than those with big ones. If there is one thing that needs sorting out with this deal is the regressive tax that that represents. Apply the increase to consumption ABOVE a government determined household minimum…if you are cutting back your use your bills will not go up…if you want to run loads of electrical toys, electric garages, swanky pool systems and consume excessive amounts of power then face the increased costs.
The deal is actually quite fair and allows CUC the opportunity to make a reasonable profit. CUC has increased profits by increasing its efficiency. No particular level of returns are "guaranteed". If CUC does poorly and inflation is flat it gets no rate increase. Small residential consumers are already subsidised. You have no idea what you're talking about.
I thnk you need to read the article again as it does not say that the increase is on the first 1/3 of the bill. It says that the base rate which is subject to the increase makes up about 1/3 of the bill, the other 2/3 being fuel. The brunt of the increase will not be borne by small consumers and the percentage increas will be the same for all.
"We will roll back the duty on fuel," said by Joey Hew in one PPM commercial. While his brother Richie (CEO of CUC) is making a bigger buck from increased rates.
At this stage I don't know whether to laugh or to cry.
Rolling back the duty on fuel and a rate increase are not mutually exclusive, and the former is likely to have a greater impact on your bill.
say hello to our new goverment.
Check your dates! Approved prior to the elections! Thank the PNA!!!
What the "Blouse & Skirt" this got to do with the new Government. Blood, this rate hike by CUC was approved by the ERA before, note I said BEFORE, the elections and with my simple mind, I would believe that the ERA was a board appointed by the UDP, so give up already about "say hello to our new government"!
what does our new govt has to say about that! i thought they would lower fuel!
And I'm sure they will. What's your point?
What’s new?
I can't wait until the price of Milk drops in half, like the C4C candidates promised us they would do!
Oh but lest we forget this is a PPM gov't with a PPM Premier. I think you are pressing the wrong keys
They must have plum lost their minds!! Lanterns..…here we come!!
PPM campaigned and promised an immdiate drop of the duty for fuel. Please show us some action at the pump. All we do is go to work to pay for our utility bills. We have gone from living in Cayman to dying in Cayman.
why? why? why? This company has always made a profit for its shareholders and will continue to do so. Why an increase at this time of hardship? Who is the ERA working for?
Looks like we will have to take out loans to pay CUC monthly. So sick of their bullshit!
thank god for the ppm……..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
That isnt bad. On a $200 bill that translates into a $10 per month increase. Hardly unexpected and certainly very reasonable. Hey, prices go up, here and everyone. Just a fact of life. Calling this "squeezing" might be a bit of a hyperbole.
Actually, it is much less than that. See my calculations above. And yes, there is a great deal of hype about it.
I think you got it wrong, just like a law you need to look at the overall picture not one segment. when you see everything rising and the electric costs rise according to you thats only $10 bucks but when food raises, water raises, fuel raises all to pay the electric bill…its not a 10 buck increase my friend…its a 100 dollar increase translating to 1200 per year
Now hysteria has set in. The $10 increase calculation is wrong. The effect is negligible.
Some bad math there: 0.5% x $200 = $1.00. But your point is solid. Apparently we are being "squeezed" out of the cost of one cup of coffee per month.
Good for stirring up the masses though!
This is fair enough and should not be grounds for complaint. Cayman has a wonderfully reliable electricity supply.
Dont be stupid, is that not what we are paying them the rediculous prices that we are now. I have never heard of hicking up prices due to reliability yet.
But reliability costs money in investment and that goes to the price we pay. But you did not think of that because you are stupid.
NO Sah another increase, we CANNOT tek no more increases!! What the hell, a third of my salary shouldn't go to damn CUC. This is total INSANITY!! The people, businesses CANNOT tek no more. (really angry consumer speaking in angry voice)
Yeah – they should supply the electricity for the same price no matter how much the costs of supplying it go up, because they are a charity rather than a business, and otherwise you would be really angry, right (exasperated rational person speaking in an inside voice).
If you are PO, tell the government that slaps 75 cents a gallon on the cost of the diesel that generates that electricity, has increased the costs of importing the equipment to maintain the generation and transmission, and has increased the costs of the labour that work for CUC, rather than bitching about CUC (whose prices are determined by, guess what, an independent regulator).
i guess your spelling shows what class of person you are and the type of people running this country into the ground
Time to invest in solar and get off the grid
Sure..you are free to go off grid……You may find however that your initial investment in solar power to be in the region of $20,000 up front. If you have that you might as well pay the extra $5-10 per month of this increase…..as you see that $20,000 will last you 160-250 years of bills….
Or put another way $20,000 divided by lets say $400 a month CUC bill = 50 months, divided by 12 = 4.2 years pay back.
Except that solar polar can't supply all your electrical needs.
What's solar polar?
What is you plan for when it gets dark (seems to happen about the same time every day and coincides with when you start turning on all the lights). Oh, I know, you can fall back on diesel generation from CUC. But wait, wouldn’t that mean you have to maintain the full existing infrastructure AND the full new solar infrastructure. That will decrease the cost of electricity for sure, NOT!
The ignorance is amazing.