Your next electricity bill will be higher, but no one knows yet by how much – including the Water and Power Authority.
"The LEAC is going up, I don't know by how much," said Patricia Blake Simmonds, WAPA spokeswoman. "We know there's going to be something (of an increase) in July." The LEAC is the fee that WAPA passes along to its customers to cover increases in fuel costs.
With the price of oil continuing to rise internationally, the utility's fuel costs are also rising.
"Under normal circumstances, we recover the cost of oil in six months," Simmonds said. But in April, WAPA asked for a 30 percent increase in the LEAC. The Public Services Commission, which regulates the utility, granted a 20 percent increase, which WAPA is spreading over 12 months.
When that increase was granted, it was announced that another would be coming in July. But at the end of June, the request had not even been made.
Simmonds said she checked with Glenn Rothgeb, assistant executive director for St. Thomas and the man who generally shepherds LEAC requests through the PSC. He reported that the WAPA board has not yet approved a request.
"There is no ceiling" on LEAC requests, Simmonds said. But WAPA must document its fuel costs for the PSC.
The WAPA board usually meets on the third Thursday of the month, which would mean July 20. However, Simmonds said it could take action before that.
