This week, the Public Services Regulatory Authority (Aresep) will present to the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) a proposal for the institution to develop a residential electric hourly rate for its subscribers.
The intention of this initiative is to give users greater flexibility when managing electricity consumption in their homes. This would allow them to schedule activities that involve high energy consumption, at times when energy has a lower cost.
According to data from this institution, homes consume 44% of the energy produced at the highest point of demand of the day. This means that they are competing with industry and commerce for access to electricity, thus increasing its cost. Currently, in our country only the National Power and Light Company (CNFL) has a rate of this type available to customers, highlighted Aresep.
Proposal
The regulatory entity proposes the creation of three time slots:
The first would be the night call, and that would be the cheapest. This would go from 11:01 p.m., at 5:30 a.m. and in this period the cost of energy would be ¢ 66.11 per kilowatt hour (kWH)
This is followed by one that is divided into three schedules, interspersed, throughout the day. These hours go from 5:31 a.m. m. at 10:00 a.m., from 1:01 p. m. at 6:00 p.m. and finally from 9:01 p.m. m. at 11:00 p.m., during which the price would be ¢ 90.62 kWh.
10:01 a.m. at 1:00 p.m. and from 6:01 p. m. at 9:00 p.m., it would be the most expensive time slot since the amount amounts to ¢ 90.62 kWh.
Stimulate energy savings
The entity explained that this measure is possible thanks to the investment that the various distribution companies are making to change their traditional meters for smart ones, which allow this differentiation.
“The residential hourly rate will empower users by allowing them to lower their bill by managing their consumption, it will encourage better use of electrical energy and will help to flatten the load curves of the electrical system and, with this, reduce the need for investments of the electricity company”, stated the General Regulator, Roberto Jiménez.
