Caribbean utility prepaid electric customer profile including drivers and key success factors.

1. Caribbean Prepaid Primer
April 2014

2. Adoption Drivers
No deposit
No bills; don’t get surprised by large invoice
Ability to pay off arrears while continuing service
No disconnect/reconnect fees

3. Driver: Payment Plans
Allows customers to pay off old balances over time
[25%] of each purchase is applied toward old balances
Critical feature for prepay transition:
Customer gets out of debt while keeping lights on
Utility recovers doubtful arrears

4. Satisfaction Drivers
Able to control usage and budget
Real-time feedback provides confidence in metering
No worries about being disconnected
Convenient Top-Up anytime; no visiting utility office

5. –Katherine Tweed (GreenTechMedia): quoting Domlec Commercial Manager,
Nathaniel George
“George said that the average Dominican really
distrusts (read: hates) the utility. But for those that
are using Pay-As-U-Go, approval ratings are through
the roof.
!
“When they don’t have to deal with us as much,” he
said, “they like us a lot more.””

6. Domlec Customer Profile
140
kWh
Month
Buys
24.5 kWh
…5.7x
per Month
97%
Transactions at 3rd
Party Merchants

7. Regional Market Adoption
Domlec currently is 35% prepay with a waiting list…
growth limited by supply of meters; will top-out >50%
Guyana (GPL) has 35,000 prepay of about 150,000
total meters; just procured another 18,000 prepay
meters
GPL expects prepay to reach 65% market penetration

8. Key Success Factors
Get off on the right foot; community relations is critical
Utility staff should be dedicated to providing a high-
level of customer service to first clients
Vending must be convenient, available after-hours, and
without punitive transaction fees