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July FAC goes up
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Posted on Jul 02 2020
Expect to see a higher electric bill this month.
Effective yesterday, July 1, 2020, the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. increased its fuel adjustment charge, soon after being informed by the Mobil Oil Mariana Islands about an increase in the average international fuel prices.
As a result, the current FAC rate of $0.08323 per kilowatt-hour has increased to 50.11330 per kWh. This means residential customers who use 500 kWh of power per month will pay approximately $15.04 more in their monthly billing.
The FAC is one of two components that make up the CUC electric kWh rate, which is used to purchase fuel. The second component is the CUC base rate, which is used to fund operations, projects, and debt service. This 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% 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 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.
CUC encourages its consumers to practice energy conservation. (Saipan Tribune)
