Grenada Today - The National Newspaper of Grenada, Carriacou & Petite Martinique

The Grenada Electricity Services Ltd. (GRENLEC) has sought to clear the air on how it charges domestic consumers for their electricity supply.

Company officials have said that the Average Fuel Price customers are expected to pay based on the cost of fuel on the international market. Company officials were called upon by the media to respond to statements made in the 2005 Budget presentation by Finance Minister Anthony Boatswain last month.

The government minister was quoted in his presentation as saying that since GRENLEC imports diesel for electricity free of duties and taxes, the increased retail fuel should not have a direct impact on the cost of electricity.

The ruling New National Party (NNP) administration of Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell has announced an increase in the price of gas at the pumps from $7.50 to $8.50 effective May 1. GRENLEC's Managing Director, Vernon Lawrence, Chief Technical Officer (CTO) Clive Hosten, Financial Comptroller Benedict Brathwaite, Acting Manager Distribution Eric Williams and Corporate Communications Manager Zarah Chase met with reporters at a press conference last Friday at the company's Dusty Highway headquarters.

The media were told about the status of the restoration programme post Ivan, the increasing price of fuel and its impact on electricity bills of consumers, and the state of Collection for consumers in arrears. Brathwaite told reporters that the cost paid by GRENLEC for fuel will not reflect the price paid by consumers at the pumps.

He pointed out that the cost of the supply of electricity to consumers is determined by the price of oil on the international market. In 2002, the Average Fuel Price was $3.11 and the Average Fuel Charge was 0.1840 . The fuel price the following year was $3.62 and the charge 022.03 while in 2004 the price was $4.47and the charge 0.2588.

According to Brathwaite for the first three months of this year the fuel price was $5.39 while the charge was 0.3207. He noted that the cost of fuel is the average cost per imperial gallon which is based on the world fuel prices at the time. The company said that the base fuel rate was established at the time of privatisation in 1994.

Meanwhile, the company has announced the end of its mass restoration programme. According to CTO Hosten, the utility company is pleased with the performance of its employees and the foreign nationals who came in to assist GRENLEC in the restoration process in the aftermath of hurricane Ivan.
From September last year to April 2005, 340,000 feet of High Voltage lines were replaced and almost double that amount in Low Voltage lines.

About 13,000 poles were replaced and straightened, 466 transformers either repaired, purchased or replaced. GRENLEC officials also said the company had deployed over 200 frontline restoration workers from Grenada and the region at a cost of approximately $15 million to help restore electricity on the island.