CUC sales boosted by 2% customer increase
Caribbean Utilities Company
(CNS): Grand Cayman’s monopoly power provider has enjoyed another profitable quarter, despite paying for improvements to the system, largely due to a 2% increase in customers. For the three months ending 30 June, the Caribbean Utilities Company (CUC) saw a $900,000 increase in earnings compared to the same period last year. The firm recorded $14.5 million in capital expenditures to meet the customer growth and improve system reliability, but its net earnings increased from $6.1 million in the second quarter of 2017 to $7 million in 2018.
According to the results published Wednesday, the increase was primarily due to higher electricity sales, which were partially offset by higher depreciation, transmission and distribution and maintenance costs. CUC’s customer base grew during the most recent quarter to 29,377, an increase of 574 customers, or 2%, on the same period last year.
During the first quarter of 2018, the revenue from large commercial customers under the new demand rate was less than what would have been billed under the previous energy only rate. As a result, CUC applied to OfReg for a rate review, and in June 2018 the regulator gave CUC the green light to increase that rate.
CUC said it also spent $7.9 million on system extension and upgrades, and $4.5 million in generation asset replacements and upgrades. Work is also being carried out to replace the existing high pressure sodium street lights with more energy-efficient LED lights. This will reduce costs, lower emissions and provide a higher quality lighting system. The programme, which started in 2017, will run for five years at a total project cost of around $3.6 million.
CUC is also working on its new Seven Mile Beach and Prospect sub-stations to meet load growth and to improve reliability in both of these areas.
President and CEO of CUC Richard Hew said he was pleased with the results and the progress made with the company’s five-year $200 million investment plan to increase reliability and meet the demands of the growing economy and increasing customer numbers.
“The company continues to pursue a diversified generation mix with Customer Owned Renewable Energy capacity connected to the grid growing by 370% from 1 megawatts to 4.7 megawatts since March 2016,” he added.
See the full report on the CUC website
Considering CUC could buy 3x 3.2MW wind turbines for about US$7.5 – US$9 million. Clean, renewable energy in a region with a lot of wind almost year round. CUC would be able to cut their costs by about half at least.
Cayman really needs more than 1 power company..
Q. Why hasn’t the CIG used or sold or given to private sector the millions of Kilowatts in Solar Capacity that they reserved for govt use?
The public allocation is all used up now.
while all over the country people are hurting, thanks to the progressives! time for Change.
Offreg don’t have time to check the validity of CUC’s claims for rate increases as there’s nobody left in the office to do it, they are all absent on jollies.
Ahh they still seem to be keeping their status quo and getting their CIG concessions under a automatically renewing 25 licence while charging customers through the nose for upgrades. Another monopoly with a licence to print money.
To boot, OfReg are a top heavy lame duck that suck up public money for consultants to advise on renewable energy. They don’t have a clue themselves so the real disruptive renewable projects like ocean thermal energy sit on the shelf. I’m quite sure CUC and its shareholders don’t want this as it has the potential to replace our dated fossil fuel plant entirely.
We’ll be the last one in line for this technology when the floodgates open. Personally I’d like to see it go to another island and leave us with our heads in the sand as usual.
Such a positive person you are. Muppet.
Who’s the real muppet, Thumbs up says its you.
Calm down Yoda
What do cuc and the ppm have in common both are a monopoly! and both are a menace to Cayman! hahhaahaha you ignorant voters need your power cut off for 2 weeks then just maybe you will wise up?
CUC can brag about their boosted sales, but they are still killing their customers with high bill amounts.
CUC charges $8 every month for solar energy, but my bill is the same amount it was last year, despite trying to save as much on the utilities that I consume.
Solar energy is free to harvest, but the technology to do so isn’t. Someone must pay this cost. As time progesses, the technology will be cheaper. See personal computers since the early 1990s.
When will we have competition?..How long can we withstand paying the highest electricity bills in the region?…We need someone to do with CUC what Linford Pierson did with Cable and Wireless…Unfortunately, politicians with balls no longer exist…
In all your talk, if you had just once stopped to listen you would know that power generation is already deregulated.
If you, or anyone else for that matter, can produce economical quantities of power cheaper than CUC then go ahead and bid on the contract to supply it to yourself and the rest of us.
OMG. Not all commenters here are idiots. Glad you have been reading.
The MLA share-holders must be laughing all the way to the bank, while rubbing their greedy little hands together.
There is nothing stopping ANYONE from owning shares in CUC. It is publicly traded.
The problem is that all local pension plans, including CIG’s is heavily invested in CUC stock. A lot of people indirectly own CUC stock and do not know it. BIG reason why we do not have competition here.