ACM publishes maximum tariffs 2019 for electricity and drinking water in Bonaire
The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (hereinafter referred to as ACM) sets new maximum tariffs as of January 1st, 2019 for electricity and drinking water in Bonaire. It concerns the maximum fixed usage tariff and the maximum variable usage tariff which Water- en Energiebedrijf Bonaire (the Bonaire water and power company, hereinafter referred to as WEB) may charge consumers as of January 1st, 2019 to cover the costs of the production and supply of electricity and drinking water. ACM also sets the user connection and reconnection charges for 2019.
Pursuant to the BES Electricity and Drinking Water Act (Wet elektriciteit en drinkwater BES) it is ACM's duty to annually set cost-covering tariffs. This means that ACM has calculated what it costs WEB to produce electricity and drinking water and to supply this to consumers. ACM publishes the tariff decisions for electricity and drinking water on the ACM website.
Tariff changes
The variable usage tariff for electricity in Bonaire decreases from USD 0.287 to USD 0.269 per kWh. The maximum Pagabon tariff drops from 0.5003 to 0.4765 per kWh.
The main cause of the decrease in the variable usage tariff is that a structural solution for the production capacity will be implemented in 2019. ContourGlobal will actually expand the production capacity. Expectations are that as a result WEB will no longer have to use the Agrekko power generators which are currently set up at Hato.
The costs for the fixed usage tariff for electricity will drop. For consumers with the lowest connection capacity these costs will be approximately USD 1 lower per month.
The variable usage tariff for drinking water in Bonaire will increase from USD 3.76 to USD 4.44 per cubic metre of drinking water. This increase is caused by the expected expansion of the drinking water production in 2019. WEB expects to incur more costs due to this expansion. These costs will be included in the tariffs.
The costs for drinking water distributed by truck remain roughly unchanged and will be USD 17.92 per cubic metre of drinking water (this was USD 17.29 excluding subsidy).
The costs for the fixed usage tariff for drinking water have remained roughly unchanged: USD 45.02 per month for the standard connection (this was USD 45.87 excluding subsidy).
ACM reduced the user connection charges (charges for a new connection) for standard connections: from USD 2,351 to USD 1,571 for electricity and from USD 1,633 to USD 1,070 for drinking water. On the instructions of ACM, WEB investigated the exact costs incurred by WEB for the provision of new connections. This investigation has shown that these costs are lower than the costs which ACM initially used to calculate the connection charges. For this reason ACM reduces these charges as of January1st, 2019.
The reconnection charge has remained unchanged at USD 40.
To take into account affordability of electricity and drinking water, especially for small households, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate and the Ministry of Infrastructure & Water Management has made a subsidy available to reduce the fixed consumption rate for electricity and for drinking water by means of a subsidy. As soon as more is known about this, WEB will inform its customers about the rates that it will charge on January 1st, 2019