By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

DESPITE a 43 per cent drop in the global cost of crude oil, the Coalition of Concerned Citizens claims that Grand Bahama Power Company’s fuel surcharge rate has instead increased and not fallen in line with the reduction of oil prices.

Comparing the current fuel cost, which fell from $112 per barrel in July to $62.74 yesterday, Pastor Eddie Victor pointed out that, according to the power company’s website, the surcharge rate of 14.41 cents/Wh in July went up to 15.95 cents/Wh over the same period.

“While prices are going down, GBPC/Emera increased the fuel surcharge by 11 per cent when compared to July 2014,” Pastor Victor said. “The Coalition of Concerned Citizens is calling for an immediate reduction in the fuel surcharge rate to fall in line with the reduction of global oil prices. Also, we call for any required rebates to be applied immediately to all customers’ account.”

Mr Victor indicated that any reduction of one cent in fuel surcharges based on an actual residential account for November 2014 with usage of 582-kilowatt hours would mean a $5.79 saving per month. “That is a saving that we could all use in these challenging economic times,” he said.

Mr Victor said the information can be easily obtained and researched on the GBPC and NASDAQ websites. A NASDAQ chart for crude oil prices in the last six months showed that in July 2014 oil prices began to go down and dropped further in October reaching $62.74 for a barrel yesterday.

“This is the lowest it has been in the past five years and oil prices are anticipated to drop lower,” Pastor Victor said. “It shows that oil prices have been on a significant steady decline since the month of July.” He explained that while GBPC graph shows a decrease in surcharge in July, it shows steady increase through December.

“You don’t have to be very educated to figure out that there is something wrong with this and I believe their calculator must be broken,” he said. “If world prices are experiencing a significant decrease we should not be seeing a slight increase, and CCC is calling for immediate reduction of surcharges.”

Various trade unions are also calling for a reduction.

GBPC corporate communications official, Philcher Grant-Farquharson, said: “The company purchases fuel in bulk, and we have also recently implemented a hedging programme in order to reduce cost and to maintain a consistent supply for the island’s need. Due to the need to have sufficient inventory on hand, there is approximately a two to three-month lag between the time the company purchases the fuel and passing it on to customers. Therefore, the current fuel surcharge reflects the cost of fuel for the previous two to three months.”