ASPA announces drop in electricity and water rates
The American Samoa Power Authority has announced that as a result of the global decline in oil prices, local residents should see a decrease in electricity and water rates.
The rate reductions are reflected in the October billings, which were issued on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008. For electricity, the October residential rate is 40.5 cents/kWh, which is a 5.5-cent reduction from the previous month’s kWh rate of 46 cents.
“This is a 12 percent reduction compared to last month’s rates and it is close to our projection of 16 percent that was publicly reported in the media last month,” said ASPA Chief Executive Officer Michael Keyser, adding that there is also a corresponding water rate reduction of 27 cents per thousand gallons.
“Last month’s water rate was $3.16 per 1,000 gallons and the corresponding reduction in the water rate is now at $2.89 per 1,000 gallons,” Keyser explained.
The good news doesn’t stop there. Given the MAP prices this month, ASPA expects another significant drop in November’s billing.
In a statement from the semiautonomous agency, ASPA says that as long as oil prices continue to drop, they will continue to pass the reduced fuel costs directly to their customers. This is possible due to the variable fuel surcharge, which is a component in ASPA’s kilowatt hour rate.
ASPA’s base rate, which is fixed by code, constitutes just 19% of the overall kilowatt hour rate, or 7.8 cents/kWh. The remainder is all fuel costs.
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