Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku has yet to release a statement about questions over what appears to be customers being asked to pay for the government’s electricity subsidy.
The Prime Minister told a press conference on March 16 that the government had not removed the subsidy.
He assured the press during the meeting, which was livestreamed, that he would ask the Treasury and Tonga Power to provide him with details about the matter.
He said he would then make a press release to clarify the issue.
The Prime Minister was responding after a journalist asked him why the government had stopped paying the energy subsidy.
A copy of a power bill dated June 2022 seen by Kaniva News shows that the Tonga Power company told electricity consumers the government had made two financial contributions to help them in paying for their bills.
The invoice says:
“Government Policy Obligation (GPO) subsidised at 0.0683 per kWh reducing new tariffs from 0.9791 to 0.9108 per kWh.
“Government Lifeline Tariff Scheme provides a 17.91 seniti per kWh rebate for all customers who use 150 kWh or less per month.”
Reporter Melemanu Fiu Bloomfield, who raised the question during the press conference, told the Prime Minister the government’s sole electricity supplier had recently told customers when they were paying their bills that the government no longer paid the subsidy.
Bloomfield said the power company told consumers it had reversed the subsidy charge adjustments and told consumers to pay them back.
A copy of an electricity power bill invoice on February 28, 2023 seen by Kaniva News showed two extra payments customers must pay on top of their monthly bills. They appeared as two adjustments in the invoice which are described as “Adj – Government Subsidy Reversal.”
It appeared the charge backs were made to cover what is thought to be the government’s failure to pay its subsidy to the Tonga Power.
The Prime Minister told the press he was unaware of the charge backs.
“I do not know about the reversal. As far as I know we have not stopped the subsidy. I will get back with a press release on that”, Hon. Hu’akavameiliku said.
The Prime Minister said it could be that the adjustments were a result of “a double payment or an under payment.”
It is presumed that as an electricity consumer Hon. Hu’akavameiliku must have received a power bill invoice in February showing the adjustment charges.
Bloomfield told Kaniva News she had followed up her question with the government, but had received no response.
The news came amid electricity consumers’ ongoing complaints on social media about the electricity costs which they deemed it as extremely expensive.
There have also been complaints about recent power outages in Tongatapu which the company said were mostly due to maintenance issues.
