Households will pay between 9% and 14% more in electricity rates from April

High setting is for subscribers Coopelesca, CNFL and Coopesantos

Industrialists claim that use diesel instead of bunker by ICE, increased costs

If you think electric service rates are very high, be prepared for further rise.

Next month households will pay between 9% and 14% additional light.

This increase is intended to cover expenditure on fuel for power generation in the last quarter, which was almost ¢ 4,000 million higher than estimated by the Regulatory Authority of Public Services (Aresep).

This increase is due to an increased need for generating electricity with diesel and bunker down for water-based production, and rising fuel prices.

This causes the prices to be adjusted by up to 4% higher than projected. This mechanism is called variable cost adjustment for fuel (CVC), it only considers the cost of hydrocarbons to produce electricity.

For example, for the second quarter to ICE had authorized an increase of 8% for residences, but would be 9%.

The adjustment will affect the 1.4 million subscribers across the country, including homes, businesses, industries and institutions.

Residential side who will bear the brunt Coopelesca customers in San Carlos; Coopesantos in the Los Santos, and the National Power and Light (CNFL), in the center of the country. Among all users 580,600 cover.

For example, a household with a consumption of 250 kilowatt hours per month (kWh) and Coopelesca client must pay ¢ 3,450 more. His bill would increase from ¢ 20,400 to ¢ 23,850, not including the charge for street lighting and contribution to firefighters.

A family with the same consumption but it is served by the CNFL, would pay ¢ 18,950 to ¢ 21,100. That is, the household would have to adjust your budget to pay additional ¢ 2150.

Such increases will join up between 3% and 13% applied in January this year for all distribution companies.

Regarding this increase to offset fuel costs, the Aresep closed yesterday reported that the consultation period. Coming soon will be approved and will come into effect after Easter. Being an automatic adjustment, the process is fast.

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ICE seeks get lower the electricity rates

The growth rates of electricity is one of the stones in the shoe of the leaders of the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), especially in the energy sector.

This was recognized by the entity's chief executive, Teofilo de la Torre, in a statement to employees on how the company faces this 2013.

De la Torre said in his message that "no doubt" the best vaccine for considering that the Institute is successful in this area "is to lower electricity rates, taking them to growth that are consistent with national and international inflation inputs main uses. "

"In the area of ​​electricity our biggest challenge is not so much the risk of competition, but rather as strong growth that electric utility rates have had in recent years," he said.

As reported by The Nation in November, electricity rates increased by 30 percentage points above the overall rate in that period.

That was how, between August 2006 and October 2012, the price of electricity prices rose by 85.4%. Meanwhile, during the same period, the cost of living rose 54.9% overall.

Improvements in this area, the chief added, will undergo a review in the financing schemes of power generation projects.

That company is building two power plants with large, very strong investment.

This is the hydroelectric Reventazon of 305.5 megawatts (MW) and an investment of $ 1,400 million, which is built in Siquirres, Limón.

This joins Diquís, a mega water in the south, with 650 MW of capacity and $ 2,072 million investment. Is still under study.

Increases in water and electricity rates fueled inflation last year

Regulated goods justify their rising in operating costs and improvements

January 2013 showed an increase in prices of 1.31%

Changes in the price of electricity, water and municipal services are among those responsible for the direction taken by inflation over the 12 months between February 2012 and January 2013.

This follows from the analysis of data released yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC), which shows that the assets of the group called "Rental housing and services" are those for which a greater degree, by 40% Inflation in the last 12 months, he accumulated a 5.74% January 1.

Other important groups within the CPI calculation were "Food and non-alcoholic", which meant 15% of the index, transport (13%), education (8%) and "Food and drinks outside the home" (8%) , among others.

Inflation, estimated by the consumer price index (CPI) is calculated based on the price changes of 12 groups of goods and services, which in turn have a different weight, that is, some have more influence than others.

For this reason, most price changes are not necessarily a good impact equally in the calculation.

The increases. Services of electricity and water have the common feature that they are regulated goods.

For it is decreed an increase in any of these services, you need the approval of the Regulatory Authority for Public Services (Aresep).

Carolina Mora, a spokeswoman for the regulator said that increases in the last 12 months have been justified by operating expenses or improvements that implement the companies providing public services.

Mora said that the increases in electricity are due to two reasons: the operating costs of the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) and the cost of thermal generation.

"In recent years increased thermal generation, which is six times more expensive than water," the official of the Aresep.

In the case of water, the greatest increase was in the sanitation rate, in order to generate sufficient income for the works that have not been done in the last 30 years.

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Receipts will be notify an electricity more expensive by using fuel

This month the increase of 13% applies to ICE customers; bills will be indicate fuel expense.

Amount of receipt will be higher between January and June, and is expected to decline from July.

Your next receipt of electric service will not only more expensive. It will also show how the amount payable due to purchases of fuel for electricity generation Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE).

From this month a new system governing quarterly review in national electrical service tariffs called variable cost per Fuels (CVC).

The mechanism aims to bring charges to the actual expenditure for the purchase of fuel for electricity generation.

This year, the Regulatory Authority for Public Services (Aresep) authorized the expenditure ICE ¢ 73,000 million in fuel.

According Aresep projections, the period from January to June is when receipts charged to higher costs (80%), it is the rainy season and how do unless more is generated with diesel and bunker.

For residential customers ICE that adjustment will be 13.79% from this month to March.

The increase will be reflected in the next bill.

According to the projection of the Aresep, in March apply a slight reduction of 4% and the rates return to more expensive by 7.2% from 1 April to 30 June.

It will be in these months when the oil will weigh more on the bill, they represent 20% of the total. Thus, a customer who consumes ¢ 20,000 monthly pay ¢ 4,000 for fuel.

The regulator estimates that between July and September start falling thermal generation, so the rates will come down by 13.5%.

To that date represent the thermal load only 8% of the receipt.

"Read more."