Barbados Light and Power Company (BLPC) customers will not have to pay as much for electricity as the utility provider wanted.However, they will have to wait until sometime next month to find out exactly how much of an increase they will be forced to pay.The Fair Trading Commission (FTC) announced Wednesday that the rate of return that the BLPC used to calculate a new requested base rate had been thrown out by the regulatory agency and the power company will have to make some adjustments.“The rate of return on the rate base of 8.79 per cent, is denied. The commission approves a rate of return of 7.47 per cent to be used in the computation of the revenue requirement,” chairman of the FTC rate hearing panel Dr Donley Carrington said at a press conference held at the commission’s Green Hill, St Michael headquarters.He explained that having refused to approve a series of requests on which the company relied to determine the 8.79 per cent rate of return, the FTC ordered BLPC to return to the drawing board and readjust its calculations and assumptions.
