RIC seeks greater powers

The Regulated Industries Commission (RIC) told members of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee that it had drafted a document in 2016 outlining the legislative amendments needed to update its powers. Will it get those powers?

The RIC is responsible for regulating the prices charged for public-utility companies and ensuring that their rates are matched by appropriate levels of service. But the RIC is also uniquely positioned as the state agency charged with utility regulation to be able to assess what public utilities are actually doing to serve the public and to suggest ways in which that service might better align with public need.

Established in 1998, the RIC has largely confined its oversight to electricity generation and distribution in TT and in 26 years has not established effective oversight of WASA, conducting public consultations on proposed standards, but bringing none to bear on the authority to date.

It took just eight years for the RIC to produce its first Quality of Service Standards report for the electricity transmission and distribution sector. The RIC's ambitions in changing its legislative posture specifically target greater use of renewable energy resources in the delivery of public-utility services, a timely acknowledgement of the need to modernise these services and to ensure that their operations are more environmentally sustainable.

But, the difficulty the RIC faces is similar to that faced by another independent public body established to provide oversight of governance, the Integrity Commission.

After Prof Rajendra Ramlogan was quietly replaced as chairman of the Integrity Commission by Hadyn Gittens, the commission withdrew a contentious statutory interpretation claim regarding its ability to hire appropriate staff from the High Court. The commission noted in a statement that it would pursue "different arrangements" in the High Court to "agitate the relevant issues."

If that sounds like a non-confrontational kicking of the can down the road, it's because it's likely to prove to be just that.

The Prime Minister's expressed displeasure with what he considered an aggressive posture by the Integrity Commission on his public disclosures (which as a political and national leader he should expect) is also likely to be defused by Ramlogan’s departure.

The RIC for its part, conducted public consultations and conferred with the TT Electricity Commission for three years before issuing a recommendation for raising electricity rates in October 2023. By November, the Finance Minister promised appropriations and allocations to state entities, notable payment delinquents, to clear their arrears to public utilities.

The RIC's rate increase remains essentially stalled in Cabinet, which is still deliberating on the rate increases after the Public Utilities Minister assured the nation that no rate increases would be considered until later this year.

The perception of possible political intervention only weakens the work of independent regulatory agencies, which operate in the wider public interest.