Regulatory agency proposes reduction in water rates
The Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP) will submit in April a proposal to reduce water rates for customers of Costa Rica’s Water and Sewer Institute (AyA) and the Public Service Company of Heredia (ESPH). Customers who get their water from municipalities may not be affected.
The new rates follow a reduction in the annual fee ARESEP charges public services agencies.
The Comptroller General’s Office this year ordered ARESEP’s Water Department to instruct AyA and other providers to pass on those savings to customers. If approved, the minimum monthly rate for AyA customers would drop from ₡1,582 to ₡1,433 ($2.98 to $2.70) and for ESPH customers from ₡873 to ₡853 ($1.65 to $1.61).
The proposed rates will be discussed at a public hearing April 2 at 5:15 p.m. at ARESEP facilities in Escazú, southwest of San José. The meeting will be broadcast live in courthouses around the country.
In April, ARESEP also will propose a reduction in rates for the industrial sector. Under Costa Rican legislation, business-sector rates subsidize the residential sector, and businesses can pay up to four times more than residential clients, depending on the amount consumed.
“The adjustment aims to improve competitiveness, to promote investment, and to boost employment, exports and tourism,” the regulatory agency said in the proposal released Friday.
In order to reduce the rates, ARESEP recommended AyA apply a fixed rate of ₡1,000 ($1.90) per cubic meter when a customer reaches 10,000 cubic meters. Currently, customers pay ₡1,663 ($3.14).
The plan stipulates that the reduced rate only will benefit large industrial customers that consume more than this amount of water per month.
According the regulatory agency, AyA’s administrative and operational costs to meet this demand is lower compared to other customers. Consumption by big companies accounts for only 2 percent of total consumption in the industrial sector.
You may be interested

5 Things You Might Not Know About Patacones in Costa Rica
Jack Donnelly - April 18, 2021Take a hard green plantain (plátano), cut it crosswise into rounds, fry them in oil, mash them flat, and fry…

How Does Coffee Pulp Help Costa Rica Reforestation?
STEVEN HODEL - April 18, 2021While the ever growing demands of society continue to encourage the destruction of tropical forests, like in Costa Rica, there…

Slothy Sunday: Visit Costa Rica’s sloths on Earth Day!
Mariana Diaz / Toucan Rescue Ranch - April 18, 2021Happy Earth Week, everyone! As you may or may not know, Earth Day is an annual event on April 22…