“If you review your bill, you will see the fuel charge has dropped from about 30 cents last year to about 21 cents this month (February),” said American Samoa Power Authority CEO Utu Abe Malae in response to Samoa News queries over the weekend. There have been numerous complaints by the public about the drop in fuel prices, yet they don't see that drop reflected in their ASPA bill.

Samoa News asked Utu about this, and he responded in an email from Washington DC , saying that the base charge stays the same — it is about 10 cents — and therefore “last year the total rate was 40 cents; today it would be about 31 cents.

“So if you used 600 kWh: last year, $240; this month, $186.” He noted that the customer will have a monthly customer charge that stays the same — for instance the $6 fee. Therefore, last year's bill would have been:  $246; this month, $192.

Utu urged the public to check their monthly consumption (kWh), along with their water consumption (gallons), to see if those numbers have changed.

ASPA’s Customer Service Manager Ryan Tuato’o also responded, noting that the System Rate or (kilowatt-hour) kWh comprises the Fuel Surcharge (F/S) and the Base Rate.  “The F/S changes as the cost of fuel changes, while the base rate is fixed and does not change.”

He noted, “ASPA uses the base rate for everyday operation costs for electric, which includes our Power Generation and Transmission and Distribution, which are the electric field workers fixing power lines and streetlights. When comparing F/S for February 2014 and February 2015, there is a decrease of 28.7% or $.085 decrease.”

The following is from a chart from Tuato’o, showing the decrease.

Month            Fuel Surcharge            Base Rate            kWh Rate

Feb. 2014            $0.29494            $0.0974            $0.39234

Feb. 2015            $0.21033            $0.0974            $0.30773

Change            28.7%            Difference            $(0.085)

Tuato’o further explained that it is important to note, when comparing the rates for the two months “we should compare the variable F/S because the fixed base rate always stays the same every month.

“For this exercise, I am using the residential Base Rate.” Tuato’o gave an example, debit meter customers that buy $20 worth of power, with no deduction for the $6 service charge, they get an extra 14 kWh due to the decrease in F/S compared to this time last year.

The following breakdown is from a chart provided by the ASPA Service manager, showing the calculation for the debit meters..

Month            KWh Rate            kWh’s for $20

Feb. 2014            $0.39234            51.0kWh

Feb. 2015            $0.30773            65.0kWh

Calculate for $20/kWh by Rate: 14.0 extra

The ASPA Manager stated that factors to consider when looking at your electric bill, as Utu mentioned, is “your consumption or usage. How many kWh used compared to last month. Increases or decreases depend on habits and usage.

“It has been very hot lately, so maybe people are using more AC.”

He also stated that the number of billing days varies from 29-31, depending on when the meter was read for your area.

“A customer may have more days this month than last. You may have an extra day for this bill that may affect post bill customers or non-debit meter customers.”

He said that as fuel continues to drop, so does the kWh rate. “We expect the F/S to drop again next month, but will not know, until we how much fuel was used in the month of February 2015, to calculate the Fuel Surcharge Rate for the March 2015.”

Tuato’o noted that they advertised in Samoa News their Fuel Surcharge Notification and ___ the new one will be elsewhere is today’s Samoa News, with February 2015 F/S rates.

He stated, “The base rate, which remains the same monthly for all electric customer classes, pays for ASPA’s operating costs and for infrastructure upgrades needed to get power to your home and business.

“The fuel surcharge rate changes monthly due to fluctuating fuel costs. The fuel surcharge is approximately 70%‐75% of the total kWh price. This is considered a “pass‐through” revenue because it goes directly to pay the local fuel suppliers for diesel fuel consumed at the five power plants in Tutuila, Manua and Aunuu, the ASPA manager said.

Tuato’o said the fuel surcharge rate also includes the “Renewable Reduction” from electricity produced by the ASPA Photo Voltaic panels.

The avoided fuel costs — in other words, the fuel being saved from producing electricity through the Photo Voltaic panels — is passed on to customers as the “Renewable Reduction” savings. There are two active sites and a third site in progress that will produce renewable energy. As ASPA increases renewable energy capacity, more savings will be realized and passed on to customers, he pointed out.