Grenada's Government Announces Low-Income Households Will Benefit from an Electricity Rate Subsidy

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada – The Grenada government Tuesday said more than 21,000 low-income households are to benefit from lower electricity rates as it implements an EC$10 (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) subsidy for the next 12 months.

In a statement, the government said that customers will begin to see the subsidy on their February bills from the Grenada Electricity Services Ltd. (GRENLEC) and that the relief measure forms part of its efforts to ease cost of living expenses for citizens.

“The cost to the government for February is EC$176,140.  In addition, low-income households that consume less than 100 kWh per month will not meet the threshold for the payment of the Value Added Tax (VAT) nor the Environmental Levy, resulting in additional savings,” the statement said.

It said that all GRENLEC customers who do not qualify for the subsidy will pay VAT at the lower rate of 7.5 per cent instead of the previous rate of 15 per cent.

“This relief will result in significant savings for all categories of GRENLEC customers. The government takes this opportunity to remind the public of the importance of energy efficiency and conservation and reiterates its commitment to reducing the impact of high energy costs on the population,” the statement added.