HAVANA.- In response to the concerns of the population, the Cuban government approved the reduction of the new electricity tariff, to be applied since the beginning of the monetary regulation process in January 2021.
Marino Murillo Jorge, head of the Commission for the Implementation of the Guidelines, recalled that Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, president of the country, when speaking at the most recent session of the National Assembly of People's Power, stated that all the necessary aspects would be reviewed.
Murillo Jorge, while addressing the radio and television program Mesa Redonda, highlighted that 91.2 percent of users (78 % of residential consumption) spend less than 350 kilowatts per month; 6.63 % of customers between 331 and 500 kilowatts; 0.16 %, between 501 and 1,000 kilowatts; and 0.013 %, more than 5,000 kilowatts.
According to the Head of the Commission for the Implementation of the Guidelines, one of the premises of the analysis is to keep the objective of fostering saving policies, while he recalled that in Cuba the peaks of electricity consumption are generated with diesel, which is the most expensive fuel.
Other priorities are to contribute to not modifying the structure of the matrix of residential consumption, to propose greater efficiency and reduction of its costs to the Electrical Union, and to make a fiscal sacrifice in the interest of reducing the approved rates.
The new modified tariff establishes a reduction in the cost of the kilowatt for all the segments, these are modified and now go from 50 to 500 kilowatts, changing the level, he added.
For his part, Livan Arronte Cruz, Minister of Energy and Mines, informed that in order for the cost of electricity not to be reflected in the prices of products and services, as of January 2021 the non-State forms of management may opt for the electricity tariff of the non-residential sector.
Currently, he said, they are applied to the production bases of agriculture, and since the beginning of the year, non-agricultural cooperatives, self-employed workers, creative groups and other forms of non-State management will also receive benefits.
This rate is charged according to the level of voltage: high, medium, low; it is linear, and takes into consideration fuel and generation costs, it is linear but without subsidies.
Arronte Cruz clarified that consumers may decide if they wish to opt for this rate and must sign a contract, so in January those interested must go to the commercial offices to formalize their electricity service.