Results of a study on consumer habits in the past year showed that people in Costa Rica are visiting grocery stores and supermarkets more often however they are spending less on each buy.

The executive president of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute, Carlos Obregón, on Wednesday morning said in a press conference the agency would file a request with the Public Services Regulatory Authority for a 13.2 percent increase in electricity rates for the first half of 2015. President Luis Guillermo Solís, who promised no new electricity hikes for 18 months, appeared to have no idea what Obregón was talking about.

A day after it approved rate hikes last week for the Costa Rican Electricity Institute, or ICE, the Public Services Regulatory Authority on Friday approved a decrease in electricity rates for all of the country’s electricity distributors. That change will take effect on Oct. 1.

The Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP) approved a 3.7 percent increase in electricity rates requested by the Costa Rica Electricity Institute (ICE). The new rate was published in the government's official newspaper La Gaceta on Thursday.

The Costa Rican Chamber of Industries on Thursday blasted a new 3.7 percent increase in electricity rates requested by the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE). Chamber leaders urged the Public Services Regulatory Authority to reject the request, noting that ICE in July promised to cut spending and stabilize its finances in order to prevent electricity rate hikes for the next year and a half.

Although President Luis Guillermo Solís had promised not to use Ticos' euphoria over Costa Rica’s performance at the World Cup to promote increases in public utility rates, a 5.38 percent hike in electricity went into effect last Tuesday.

President Luis Guillermo Solís called for a review of gasoline prices as part of a wider examination of Costa Rica’s energy options in the face of climate change and rising energy costs, during a press conference on Tuesday.