PUC further clarifies utility tariff adjustments for 2018 |19 February 2018

Further to the recent announcement that the Utility Tariff Rebalancing Programme has been postponed to July 1, 2018, the Public Utilities Corporation has added some clarifications to its earlier statement.

In a communiqué released last Friday, the Public Utilities Corporation (PUC) writes:

“The Utility Tariff Rebalancing Programme is not a new concept. It is based on a study undertaken by PUC and the World Bank and was first implemented in November 2013. Its main aim is to attain improved financial performance for all three activities of PUC (electricity, water and sewerage).

The Tariff Rebalancing Programme is intended to be implemented annually over an 8-year period but was put on hold for the years 2015 and 2016. The plan was to resume it in November 2017, but a decision was made by government to postpone its implementation to March 2018, then again to July 1, 2018.

PUC wishes to further clarify that the Tariff Rebalancing Programme is not to be confused with the fuel-related electricity tariff adjustments, which will continue to occur every quarter based on fuel price fluctuations. However, it should be noted that the implementation of the Tariff Rebalancing Programme on July 1 this year will coincide with the fuel-related electricity tariff adjustment which will also take place on the same date.

For ease of reference, a schedule of tariff adjustments for 2018 is set out in the accompanying table:

For more information on how the tariff changes will impact your monthly utility bill, once implemented, please contact PUC’s commercial and customer services division on telephone number 4678000. Details are also available on PUC’s website www.puc.sc