IRC Meets Stakeholders re DOMLEC’s Capital Investment Plan & Revenue Requirement
Stakeholders particularly customers and consumers of electricity in Dominica, have provided comments on two vital components related to the ongoing tariff review, that is DOMLEC’s Capital Investment Plan and Revenue Requirement proposals, during the Independent Regulatory Commission’s third public consultation that began on October 8th, 2024.
On Tuesday, November 19th, 2024, as part of the consultations process, the IRC targeted and facilitated stakeholders of electricity at its hybrid meeting, both in-person and on virtual platforms.
In his opening remarks. Executive Director of the IRC, Justinn Kase informed participants that a series of public consultations on DOMLEC’s tariff proposals are critical elements of the ratemaking process.
Both IRC and DOMLEC presented independent proposals on the matters that were up for discussion; with DOMLEC explaining its proposal submitted to the IRC, while the IRC presented its review, findings and a more suitably modified proposal to what was presented by DOMLEC
The first segment of the consultation discussed DOMLEC’s Capital Investment Plan. Stakeholders were required to consider DOMLEC’s proposed capital investment value of $45.9 Million, for the period of 2025-2027 versus the Commission’s counter proposal of $34 Million, for that same period. The outcome of this proceeding is intended to determine DOMLEC’s investing activities during that period and thus, the value of investment that will be absorbed in the company’s regulated rate base.
The second segment of the meeting focused on the utility company’s revenue requirement. A revenue requirement is the total amount of money a utility must collect from customers to pay all its costs, including its return on investment. Funding levels must be sufficient to get the required work done, without adversely impacting on the quality of service, or compromising reliability, customer service or safety.
DOMLEC’s Statement of Expenditure and Associated Costs for 2023 was analyzed, to determine the company’s cost of service, that will be included in future electricity rates. IRC and DOMLEC asked stakeholders to consider the proposed Revenue Requirement of $67 Million for the 2023 Test Year, in separate proposals. IRC has dubbed the amount “reasonable and justifiable under normal operating conditions.”
Stakeholders were given up until November 30th, 2024, to ask questions and provide comments on the proposals.
The IRC will issue its Comments on First Responses on December 13th, via the publication of a Second Issue of the Consultative Document for each proposal, allowing stakeholders a second opportunity to speak on the matter. The window for responses will remain open until December 27th, 2024.
IRC’s final decision on both matters will be published in January of 2025.
The consultation documents can be accessed on the IRC’s website at https://www.ircdominica.org/consultative/.
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