Fuel clause ‘not the only factor’

THE PRICE OF FUEL has fluctuated over the past five or six months, but “it has not changed [so] significantly that it would create a major problem for customers”, according to Stephen Worme, chief marketing officer of Barbados Light & Power Co. Ltd (BL&P).
Worme said the fuel clause had “reasonably stabilised”.
He noted that “the price has fluctuated between 29 cents and up nearly as high as 32 cents over the last five or six months”.
“Sometimes people may blame the fuel clause or the fluctuations in the fuel clause for the increases in their bills.
“Often what you find when you look at it, the fuel clause does play a role but there are several other factors that influence a customer’s bill,” Worme contended.
His comments came against a backdrop of recent public complaints about increased electricity charges.
He noted that one major factor was energy usage, “especially on vacation times”.
“When the children are at home we find generally there is an overall increase in the average consumption in many homes,” he said, adding that during warm months, fans and refrigerators work harder. 
“On our bills now we have a graph where consumers can actually see how their energy consumption is varying from month to month.”
Worme said while the company had no control over the price of fuel, “We try to put in the most efficient equipment and then once that is in, we work to make sure that it is working efficiently.” (NB)