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Admin still iffy about fuel surcharge
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Posted on Apr 02 2006
The administration remains noncommittal about when the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation’s fuel surcharge will be scrapped.
Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez said Friday that the removal of the fuel surcharge would depend on CUC’s ability to collect utility revenues.
“We’re going to remove the fuel surcharge but it depends on CUC’s reliability. [The fuel surcharge will remain] until CUC can procure [fuel] on its own,” Villagomez said.
However, he expressed hope that the added fee would be removed in six months.
The administration had promised to scrap the fuel surcharge during the 2005 election campaign. It announced the six-month deadline for surcharge abolition after it assumed office in January.
CUC data show that the utility firm earned an additional monthly income of $1.2 million from the fuel surcharge.
Between October 2004 and April 2005—before the surcharge was implemented—utility fees paid by residential and commercial customers averaged $4.9 million. However, the figure climbed to $6.3 million in May 2005, the first month that the surcharge was put in place.
Since then, CUC’s collection from households and businesses has averaged $6.1 million from May 2005 to January 2006.
Government agencies, as well as residential and commercial customers, are assessed the fuel surcharge, which amounts to 3.5 cents per kwh.
However, CUC data do not provide a breakdown of the government’s actual billing and the subsidy provided to the utility.
The government used to pay CUC $650,000 monthly. But beginning February 2005, the government has been providing CUC with subsidy for its fuel purchases. CUC has since been receiving an average of $1.7 million from the government.
