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Friday, January 29th, 2016  |  USD: Buy 531.29 / Sell 543.92
20 years

CNFL asks for whopping 35.56 percent increase in electric rates

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September 3rd, 2015 (ICR News) The electric utility that provides electricity to most of the San Jose metro area and surrounding suburbs, the National Power and Light Company (CNFL) has requested a whopping 35.56 percent increase in electric rates that would take effect in December.

 

Marvin Cespedes, Director of Administration and Finance for CNFL, told La Nacion that the request is mostly due to an ever-increasing debt that the company owes to the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) after regulator ARESEP approved an increase in wholesale rates for energy sold by ICE to CNFL and other distributors to cover demand.  The regulator approved a 23.20% increase in transmission fees and 15% for wholesale electricity sold by ICE to CNFL and other utilities in February, but the regulator did not approve rate hikes for CNFL that were requested in April to offset the increased cost of energy purchased from ICE.

 

CNFL owes ICE some ¢20 billion (about $37 million) as of July and the debt is increasing by ¢2.6 billion (about $4.8 million) per month, Cespedes said.

 

CNFL reported a loss of ¢14.8 billion in the first half of this year alone.

 

If approved, customers would go from paying ¢55.65 to ¢77.03 per Kwh for the first 200 Kwh consumed.  The next 100 Kwh consumed would increase from ¢86.94 to ¢118.22.

 

The rates would be even higher for customers who consume more than 300 Kwh.

 

The company serves some 520,000 subscribers in the greater San Jose metro area and surrounding suburbs.

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  • prdatki

    Is this the same Fools and Crooks who pay and benefits is at least 3 times higher than the Private sector? THe top ten should be sent to prison doing hard labor. The rest should have pay and benefits cut by 50 % and should be audited every six months

  • Chris Thomas

    CR goverment is one of the most corrupt countries on earth

  • Ken Morris

    I don’t like the fat salaries either, but the part that gets me is that I have a hard time believing my bills are accurate. I just saw this month’s, it’s twice as high as last month’s, and reports that I used 50% more Kwh this month. I did? How? I am aware that normal usage varies from month to month, but find it hard to believe that it varies this much from one month to the next.

    • zzzzz

      You can verify things yourself by calculating your consumption by simply adding up your appliances consumption by the time used as they all all have ratings. Its a bit of a guessing game and some work but if you can tie your shoelaces then you can probably do this.
      You would be surprised how close to your real consumption you can get this way.

      Also turn everything off and go verify if your meter is still turning.
      Sometimes it can occur that you have a mild short in a plug or equipment that is not strong enough to trip the breaker but can represent a huge consumption.

      Sometimes it happens that your neighbor is connected to your system and often, in those situations they time their usage and quantity to not get caught.

      I once had a neighbor that had run an underground wire from his house to the house i was renting.

      If according to your calculations, the amount billed (which details your KWhrs and the period of consumption) is way out of whack you can order an examination of your meter as they are known to be occasionally defective.

      • Ken Morris

        Thanks, but I fear that I might not be able to tie my shoelaces. I would have no idea where to find the ratings on my appliances, much less how to calculate lights, a plugged in TV not on, charging batteries, etc.

        Actually, I’m not even sure which meter is mine, though I suppose I could identify it by matching the number on my receipt. The idea of turning off and unplugging everything and then watching the meter is appealing, but I wonder if things like someone else’s porch light or maybe a common hall light is wired into my meter. If that is the case, the meter might not budge when I look at it, but could when the additional light or whatever is turned on. Also, it’s an old building with iffy wiring anyway. Who really knows what is connected to what?

        By best guess is the problem is meter readers estimating the usage. The meters are inside the building that requires a key to get into. Sometimes the meter readers ask me to let them in, sometimes they probably ask someone else, but sometimes I’m pretty sure that they just make up the numbers and then make adjustments to them whenever they actually read the meters.

        However, I wouldn’t put it past ICE or its subsidiaries to simply screw up the billing. I once had a landline phone with ICE–until I received a bill for ten times the usual amount. I contacted ICE to let them know that the bill was incorrect. After a few months of back and forth with ICE, the clerk finally said that the bill was corrected and I could go pay the correct amount at the grocery store. I tried to pay the bill that very day at the grocery store only to be informed that my phone had been disconnected and I couldn’t pay the bill. Cell phones by then having invaded, I decided just to go without my landline phone and stop hassling with ICE. Based upon this experience, I don’t have a lot of confidence in ICE’s billing or related services.

        Something though has to explain why my billed usage goes from a low of around 200 KWhrs to a high of around 400 KWhrs, when I can’t identify a change of usage. Most months my usage is in the 250-300 range, and my little environmentalist and cheapskate goal is to try to keep it under 250. It’s therefore frustrating when I get a bill in the high 300s and can’t think of a usage explanation for that.

        Also, I kind of worry about how practical it is to price electricity usage on a sliding scale when at least I seem to have little control over my billed usage. I support billing on a sliding scale as a way of encouraging conservation, but that will only be fair if the billed usage is accurate, and I don’t believe mine always is.

        Maybe I’ll turn off and unplug everything, find my meter, and eyeball it. Something isn’t right, and with any good luck I could always stumble on the problem.

        • zzzzz

          Haha, well i must tell you that my bill is also highly irregular and i should also say sometimes oddly regular when it should have fluctuated.
          I have not practiced what i preach at least not yet. I’m just not up to it. I guess i have to choose my battles and i am burnt from the constant stream of BS i must contend with on a daily basis.
          I think you are right and the billing is regularly problematic.
          You can probably get ratings for your stuff online though. All your electrical stuff has a power rating tag somewhere as well. A light bulb that you buy, you know its rating right?
          a 22 watt bulb will consume 22 w/hrs per hour and 3 of them for 4 hours will consume 264 watt-hours or .264 KWhr. And so it goes for everything else. Grab a pad and keep it handy take a month to analise it all. Write down what you do; TV about 2 hrs a day, for example at 175 watts = 2 x 30 x 175= 10.5 KWhr @ 75 col/KWhr = 787.5 col. Air conditioning, hotwater, dryer sucks a hell of a lot more and you need to be more precise about the the duration of use but really it is worth doing as a matter of principle if you care about your footprint and all that crap.
          Set yourself up sort of practicing for one month and the next month you will know what you are doing and it will be easy. It’s just one month man.
          The tough one is the fridge because it is hard to tell how often it goes on or off but try here
          http://www.homeenergy.org/show/article/nav/refrigerators/id/1706

          If you suspect your neighbor is robbing you, catching him in the act can be tough but one way is turning off everything when you leave the house for a while and taking a reading of your meter before then when you come back, preferably a long time later. An electricity thief usually can’t resist stealing when you are out…Never let the would be thief see you inspecting your meter. Anyways, i am starting to sound like a crazy now.
          So start with your laces and work your way up. I know you can do it!

  • disgusted

    My take who running this business? What CEO is in charge. How is it they are being paid millions in salaries , bonuses , entitlements and pension plans. yet have run this business into the deficit? This is a lot of hydro dam generated power, Right? I know also diesel generated as well. Reports came out the dam is 30% higher than usual. I guess a government run operation you just cry poor mouth and poof increase the KWH…. I will be able to absorb this fortunately, how about the others here having a hard time paying what they have now. There needs to be a loud outcry from the citizen here ..

  • mhogan

    They have no shame.

  • SarongGoddess

    Anyone remember what happened around the last time ICE (or CNFL) asked for a big rate hike & was denied? & suddenly on March 19, 2007 – the WHOLE COUNTRY had a blackout for HOURS. But the government came to the rescue & instead of giving us the big increase, they (if memory serves me) just gave ICE LOTS of $$.
    I’m not saying that’s what caused the blackout but it was amazing timing eh?!?!?!?!

    • disgsted

      I remember that black out. I was in country when it happened. It was not until next day I found out it was the WHOLE country. And over ICE making a point. i am told the CEO of ICE makes somewhere around 7 million a year. I have asked many here if that true . I never heard back. Does anyone here know the salaries being paid to the top executives ?? Or is that all hushed up.

  • zzzzz

    under $0.30 per KWhr is still acceptable, not cheap but acceptable if the first 200KWhrs are $0.15.
    I would like to see their balance sheets though. How much is going to infrastructure and capital expenses.
    How is their spending overseen and what is the bidding process if any.

    What’s the salary hierarchy too….
    I do find that, all in all, they do pretty good work on the infrastructure.

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