I noticed on my CUC bill that they have introduced a sixth charge for renewable energy. Is this something new that they are charging their customers for now? Customers have to pay for: facilities charge, energy charge, licence and regulatory fees, government fuel duty and fuel cost, and now this new charge – renewable energy.
Auntie’s answer: I was able to get an explanation from CUC and it has to do with the increased use of solar energy (which I know seems ironic). A CUC official said that prior to the commissioning of the 5 MW solar farm in Bodden Town (see Cayman’s first solar farm commissioned), and its integration into the company’s power grid, renewable energy costs were included in the fuel cost item on the monthly electric bill.
However, the increase in solar energy changed that. “Now that over 2% of energy comes from renewable energy and this proportion is expected to grow, CUC, in consultation with the Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg), has split the renewable energy costs from the fuel costs so that there can be further transparency on its bills,” the official said.
Going forward, you can expect to see changes in the amounts charged under these two headings, the CUC representative added. “As future renewable energy projects come online and are tied into CUC’s grid, customers may notice an increase in the renewable energy charge and a decrease in the fuel cost charge components on the bill.”
LOL all you renewable energy tards, chanting we want solar. Well…you got solar. See how it doens’t save money for you?! what did you think was gonna happen? they implement solar and your energy bill was going down. No, they are a monopoly. And can do whatever they wish.
CUC are a wonderful supplier. Too many moaners want this first world service at third world prices.
I’m confused. It sounds to me like CUC is purchasing a small portion of its electricity from a private company that has invested in building a solar farm in Bodentown rather than taking a chance on building its own solar farm. As a result, instead of 100% of electricity being generated by oil fired generators, a small portion of solar electricity has been introduced into the grid, reducing dependency on oil fired generators.
If the solar farm is a success, and produces cheaper electricity CUC may increase its use and decrease its use on oil fired generators. Thus, I see the cost of fuel being reduced and the cost of renewable energy going up over time.
If my summation above is correct, and the renewable energy charge now appearing on CUC bills is in direct proportion to the decrease in fuel charges; over time and subject to CUC investing in increased renewable fuels, we should see those fees increase and fuel (oil) fees decline.
Am I correct? If I am, I think I must say I am OK with the CUC policy of splitting out the actual costs of providing electricity. It is especially interesting to see the government fees added to the bill in our “tax free” country.
you are living in a dream world. CUC will just charge you for something else, so they never have to pay for the upkeep, maintenance or the replacement of the solar panels. Introducing solar DOES NOT make your electricity cheaper. Get it through your heads.
Apparently I was not clear on my previous remarks. What I was trying to say was that the current feeds for solar energy being paid by CUC are not enough (in my opinion) to make CUC abandon its current oil fired generators, but if the cost of the purchased solar power were to decline, CUC might consider adding to the amount of solar power purchases. I did not intend on saying I felt the overall cost of electricity from CUC would ever go down. After all, it is a government sanctioned monopoly. The only thing to make electric prices to drop would be competition, and I don’t forecast that. We can only be happy to have reliable electricity when we want and need it as long as there is a monopoly.
What about the new monthly charge on Flow $3 for maintenance? I asked what it was for & was told everyone is now billed it so that if your modem/router fails they will replace it. ‘for free’. I asked if I could opt out & buy my own, as I’ve never had one fail on me & it was only replaced when I upgraded to Fibre Optic, but was emphatically told NO. So if I pay $3 per month for 10 years the “free” new modem actually cost me $360.
To 8:40 AM, does CUC give their customers a refund on their bill, when the power is cut off for 6 hours and the food gets spoiled in the refrigerator?
At least the stores will give you a refund if you buy something from their stores and something is wrong with it or they will replace it.
So, do you think that when you purchase items at a store you do not pay for the sellers overheads to run the business, it also include the profit. All CUC are doing is showing us how they arrive at the total bill. In any store all you get is a price for each item and a total at the bottom. CUC could just send a bill that says, Pay $300.10 by 30 January, trust me those overhead costs will still be in that bill.
So CUC expect their customers to pay for this investment. Sounds like this is an investor’s responsibility!
What a scam.
Because investors don’t require a return on their investment, right?