The Public Utilities Authority (Electricity) is reviving the conserve-profit plan to encourage lower electricity consumption this summer, in the wake of the latest 6.5% rate hike, retroactive to the beginning of April, which brings the cumulative electricity rate hike since August 2011 to 30%. Households which sign up for the plan can save 10-20% off their electricity bill. 181,000 families signed up for last summer's conserve-profit plan.
"The proposed arrangement is in line with the Public Utilities Authority's policy to reduce electricity consumption by households as part of the effort to reduce demand, in view of the expected electricity shortage this summer," said the Public Utilities Authority in a statement.
This summer, the eligibility threshold for the conserve-profit program has been lowered from 15% to 10% reduction of a household's electricity consumption. Consumers who reduce consumption by 30% will also receive a discount, which was not part of last year's program.
The Public Utilities Authority also warned Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22) that it did not send meter readers to 13% of the conserve-profit program participants last year, with the result that they did not fully benefit from it. Instead, IEC made a statistical estimate of these participants' electricity consumption. The Public Utilities Authority has therefore banned IEC from not visiting consumers participating in the program.
The Public Utilities Authority said that consumers who participated in last year's conserve-profit program and want to participate in it this year should compare their electricity consumption with 2011, not 2012.
A household which cuts its electricity consumption by 10-20% will receive a 10% discount on their electricity bill. A household which cuts its electricity consumption by 20-50% will receive a 20% discount.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 16, 2013
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