“It is wicked of this government to want to increase electricity rates at this point in time.”
That’s the view of Pointe-a-Pierre MP David Lee.
On Thursday, the Regulated Industries Commission’s (RIC) revealed its proposed electricity rate increases as mandated by the RIC Act.
With the current rates, a household consuming 200 kW/h for two months would have a $58 bill. With the proposed changes in the charges, that same household would have a $71 bill, a 22 per cent increase.
Lee said he was shocked by the proposal..
He said: “The government is now asking us as a population to bear the burden of electricity rates as high as 64 per cent. “What that would do, just like the reduction of the fuel subsidy resulting in higher prices at the pumps, is there would be a higher cost of living, at a time where people are barely surviving.
“It is wicked of this government to want to increase electricity rates at this point in time.
“What we (the UNC) are saying, is that you have to know what your priorities are and when you are going to place the burden on the population. And now is not the right time.”
He said the RIC and the Government should take a holistic approach to implementing increases given the current economic and social conditions in TT. He noted that while the RIC had proposed a rate, government did not have to implement it.
“Imagine you are asking someone tomorrow to pay a 60 or 50 or 40 per cent increase in their electricity rates. That is ridiculous. We are not against the rate increases but let us be reasonable.
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