Te Aponga Uira (TAU) is pleased to let customers know it is reducing the temporary fuel surcharge by an additional $0.05 from 1 July 2023. This reduction should give customers some cost relief during these challenging times.

The temporary surcharge was introduced in October 2022 in response to increasing factors outside of TAU’s control, including fuel costs exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and rising supply chain costs. The surcharge was introduced at $0.15 per unit of electricity to address part of this financial burden, and was reduced by $0.05 in May 2023. The additional reduction announced today leaves the surcharge at $0.05 and will be reviewed regularly against the cost of fuel import for TAU.

“I am pleased to announce that, thanks to prudent financial planning and careful management of fuel, we are able to reduce the temporary surcharge again so quickly”, said Mata Nooroa,  Chairman of  TAU Board.  Chief Executive, Lesley Katoa added “TAU continues to shoulder much of the additional cost of fuel but has been committed to passing on as little of that as possible to its customers in what we know is a challenging time for many as the Cook Islands recovers from the impacts of COVID-19.”

TAU continues to pursue its Renewable Energy (RE) projects with the expectation that solar power will eventually displace diesel generation in Rarotonga, protecting customers from volatile energy costs. However, the nature of renewable energy means it is not always available, requiring a means of storage  for when the sun is not shining.

TAU is committed to providing reliable energy to customers in the journey towards a fully renewable energy system, and wants to ensure the new technology works smoothly so customers can use electricity whenever they want to.

We want to again assure our customers that we continue to monitor fuel prices and will remove the surcharge as soon as we can. If any customer is experiencing financial hardship, please come to see our team to discuss how to pay your TAU bill with a payment plan.

The reduced Temporary Fuel Surcharge applies as follows to the Tariff Groups of TAU:

Please note that although the changes will take place from the start of July, customers read from 3rd to 5th July will not notice the change on their invoices due to the time to get the system updated. Rest assured that the change will also apply to these customers and credit for the surcharge reduction will be applied to their accounts in this time. From the 10th July, it will be visible on all invoices/readings.

More information about the surcharge is published here: https://teaponga.com/0-05-off-temporary-off-temporary-fuel-surcharge/