Your electricity rate could increase by as much as 11 percent

A public hearing on a reduction in electricity rates requested by the business sector will be held Wednesday at 5:15 p.m., the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP) reported.

The hearings will be held at judicial branch facilities of Heredia, Limón, Puntarenas, Liberia, Cartago, Ciudad Quesada (northern zone), Pérez Zeledón (southern zone) and the indigenous area of Bribri in the Caribbean region.

The Costa Rican Association of Large Energy Consumers (ACOGRACE) last month requested ARESEP reductions ranging from 10-38 percent in electricity rates for its 1,020 associates, “to improve the country’s competitiveness.” 

But the request also proposes that the decrease will be financed by increasing monthly rates for residential users and other users with preferential rates, such as public schools. If approved, these users would see hikes from 4.40-11 percent. ARESEP is inviting those against ACOGRACE’s proposal to present arguments at the agency’s main facilities in Escazú, west of San José. The hearing is open to all citizens and groups.

The regulatory agency will hold hearings at the same time in all provinces, which will be connected by videoconference to the main event, ARESEP spokeswoman Ana Carolina Mora said.

Both ACOGRACE’s request and the opposition presented Wednesday “will be analyzed rigorously by ARESEP, so that users will not be charged with increases not technically justified,” the agency stated on its website.