Lead Editor Investigations
asha.javeed@guardian.co.tt
Finance Minister Colm Imbert says the potential electricity rate increase will not affect minimum wage earners and the vulnerable, since there is a rebate policy in place.
Two weeks ago, the Regulated Industries Commission (RIC) proposed Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) rate increases next year by varying amounts across the board—for residential (15 to 64 per cent), commercial (37 to 51 per cent) and industrial (58 to 72 per cent).
The biggest change is that customers will have to pay a monthly bill.
At a virtual news conference yesterday, Imbert pointed out that the Cabinet has to consider the proposal and then the Government will take appropriate action.
“I don’t want to prejudge what the Government will do,” he said.
However, when asked how higher rates would affect minimum wage workers, Imbert used the opportunity to clarify that there is an electricity rebate scheme in place.
“If your electricity bill is $300 or less, you get a substantial rebate on the bill so that your bill could be reduced from $300 to maybe $225 or something like that. Your minimum wage earner is going to fall into that category because the vast majority of households in Trinidad and Tobago, their bills in that region. And, therefore, the increase in rates will fall within the rebate scheme,” Imbert explained.
“And we always said that we would help the poor and vulnerable, so if you have to tweak the rebate scheme so that there’s no increase whatsoever, for people at the lowest end, or we just have a marginal increase for them because the rebate is kicking in.
“I don’t think that the increase in electricity rates will have any significant effect on minimum wage workers because they’re going to fall within the electricity rebate scheme of the Government,” he added.
If the Government accepts the RIC’s proposal, it will be the first rate increase in electricity in T&T in 17 years.
After this, electricity rates are set to increase annually from 2024 to 2027.
