Press Release ACM
The Authority for Consumer & Market (ACM) has established in December 2017 the maximum distribution rates for electricity and for drinking water which will apply starting April 1st, 2018 on Bonaire. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate have taken measures to limit the negative effects of the new fee structure as much as possible. These measures become clear in mid-March.
The ACM publishes the rate decisions in electricity and drinking water on the website of the ACM. It contains the maximum (break-even) rates that Water and Energy Company Bonaire N.V. (WEB) may levy on its customers starting from April 1st. Because of the funding available, the rates that WEB will actually charge are lower. Once the subsidy measures are made known, WEB will inform its customers about the rates they will charge on April 1st.
The ACM has the task to set costs covering rates on the basis of the “Wet elektriciteit en drinkwater BES” (Electricity and Drinking Water BES Act). As of April 1st there will be a new rate system with a fixed operating rate and a variable usage rate. As an independent regulator the ACM calculates on the basis of the legal rules which costs WEB incurs for the production and distribution of electricity and drinking water.
It is in the interest of Bonaire that WEB is a financially healthy company, which gets its costs reimbursed, including a reasonable return on its investments. In this way, WEB will generate sufficient income to maintain the network, make investments in the network and to purchase or produce electricity and drinking water themselves. On the other hand, the setting of the maximum rates by the ACM also ensures that WEB may no longer levy more than those maximum (break-even) rates on consumers.
The decisions of the ACM and its corresponding calculation model can be found on the website of the ACM: www.acm.nl/caribisch-nederland
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