OfReg Approves Changes to Caribbean Utilities Company’s Terms of Service, Giving Consumers Greater Choices and Promoting Renewable Energy 
 

GRAND CAYMAN, CAYMAN ISLANDS; 27 December, 2018 
 
OfReg, as the regulator of the Energy & Utilities sector in the Cayman Islands, has announced that it has approved a series of revisions to the CUC Terms of Service that will result in more choices for consumers on how they acquire electricity, and ultimately what they pay for it.

Demand Rates
Customers can continue to consume and buy energy the way they have historically done or they can switch to renewable energy production and reduce their load on the grid, while reducing the island’s dependence on fossil fuel.  Consumers who are able to shift their peak demand to the new off-peak period will see decreases in their CUC bills as the new rate structure provides for better energy rates for energy consumed at ‘off-peak’ times. Customers interested in generating energy for self-supply can now elect to subscribe to CUC demand rates.

Information on demand rates is available on the CUC website.

Electric Vehicles (EV) Rates
Customers with electric vehicles can also now install a separate meter for charging their vehicles, and preferred rates are available for this purpose. The EV charging rates along with more information will be available starting in January 2019.

Customers who wish to install renewable energy systems in their homes and businesses will be able to participate in a new demand rates, known as the Distributed Energy Resources (DER) programme where the demand rates are market-driven. Consumers can also install batteries for energy storage.  Any excess energy that customers do not use for self-supply can be sold back to the grid more competitively and without being cross-subsidised, thereby keeping electricity rates as low as reasonably possible.
OfReg’s Acting CEO and Executive Director, Energy & Utilities Gregg Anderson stated:  “We look at this as one of the first steps to reducing dependence on diesel-generated electricity – as more people move to renewable energy generation and practice better demand management, CUC’s overall fuel consumption reduces, which helps to bring down the price of energy for everyone”.   

Anderson also said that: “Distributed Energy Resources (DER) will continue to play a bigger role in the Islands’ resiliency, since poles and wires are the most fragile part of the transmission and distribution system. After disasters, solar and storage offers one of the best means of ensuring that consumers have power.”
  
 
For more information on the sectors that OfReg regulates, please visit ofreg.ky. 
 
ENDS   
  
OfReg (the Utility Regulation and Competition Office) is the independent regulator for the electricity, information and communications technology, water, wastewater and fuels sectors in the Cayman Islands. OfReg also regulates the use of electromagnetic spectrum and manages the .ky internet domain.