This public notice is issued by the Utilities Regulatory Authority in accordance with paragraph 12(1)(c) of the Utilities Regulatory Authority Act No.11 of 2007 (as amended).

It serves to inform UNELCO’s electricity customers that in accordance with the Terms and Conditions of the Port Vila Electricity Concession Contract signed between UNELCO and the Vanuatu Government, Port Vila’s electricity tariff is adjusted monthly via a monthly tariff adjustment formula defined by the contract to cater for changes in certain types of costs that are beyond UNELCO’s control, yet UNELCO incurs such costs to provide electricity service. These costs are represented by indexes in the monthly price adjustment formula.

The February 2022 electricity tariff for UNELCO, as approved by the Authority, is 58.06VT/kWh. This is a 0.42% increase to the January 2022 tariff of 57.82VT/kWh.

This upward adjustment was largely due to increase in the monthly average imported diesel fuel price/litre by 0.21% in January 2022, which is caused by the fluctuations in diesel price per litre during the month. Imported diesel fuel makes up approximately 40% of the electricity price. Other secondary indexes causing change in the electricity price included increase in the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) price by 4.97%. The PPA price is driven largely by imported fuel price. Other increases include material index by 1.21% and increase in the proportion of electricity generated from diesel generation by 0.21%.

Consequently, application of this new tariff as shown in table below will increase customer category billings.

Month

Adjusted Tariff

Change from Prev. Monthly Price

(in % & VT/kWh)

January 2022

57.82 VT/kWh

2.07% or + 1.17 VT/kWh

February 2022

58.06 VT/kWh

0.42% or + 0.24 VT/kWh

 

The Authority will continue to monitor, verify, and approve monthly UNELCO’s electricity price change to ensure the adjusted prices comply with its (UNELCO’s) concession contract. The approved tariff is sent monthly to the State Law office for gazettal, to become an official publication for public notification and application to customer electricity invoices.  

The above outline rate is applied differently to the various customer types of UNELCO via the applicable customer tariff structure.

Customers are reminded to always manage their electricity consumption by using energy efficient appliances and exercise other electricity saving measures to save on their monthly electricity bills.