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Power charge goes up
Rise in fuel prices result in FAC increase
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Posted on Apr 01 2019
Expect to see an increase in your power bill this April.
The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. announced yesterday that international fuel prices have gone up, boosting its fuel adjustment charge, which is used to purchase fuel.
As a result, the current FAC rate of $0.19213 per kWh has increased to $0.20087 per kWh effective April 1, 2019.
Residential customers who use 500 kWh of power per month will pay approximately $4.36 more in their monthly billing.
In a statement yesterday, CUC said that it has been notified by its fuel supplier, Mobil Oil Mariana Islands Inc., that there has been an increase in the average international fuel prices that will affect the FAC, one of two components that make up the CUC electric kWh rate. The second component is the CUC base rate, which is used to fund operations, projects, and debt service. So far, only the FACE rate has been going up or down; the base rate has not been increased since April 17, 2014.
CUC is required, pursuant to an order previously issued by the Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission, to adjust (up or down) the FAC pass-through rate when the Mean of Platts Singapore monthly pricing equals or exceeds a 4.5 percent differential of the average per gallon cost of fuel used in the calculation of the current FAC rate.
CUC first instituted the Levelized Energy Adjustment Clause in 2009 to recover fuel and fuel-related costs, a system also used by power providers in Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In May 2015, the CPUC authorized CUC to change the name of LEAC to FAC to provide customers a more accurate description of the electric rate. (PR)
