The Public Services Commission declined Tuesday to extend the 66-cent emergency fuel surcharge for passenger ferry service between St. Thomas and St. John, after operators sought another 30 days to compile fuel and ridership data requested at the commission’s previous meeting.
Chairman David Hughes announced that “the commission declines to extend the surcharge at this time,” after asking whether anyone wanted to pursue an extension. No roll-call vote was taken on the surcharge request.
Attorney Maria Hodge, representing Varlack Ventures and Transportation Services of St. John, said the requested information covered ridership, fuel costs and fuel consumption through September. She said “the companies couldn't get all the September data ready” in time for the meeting, along with further details of their fuel purchases, and had requested more time to provide the material.
Commissioner Raymond Williams questioned proceeding without the supporting information, noting that the companies had already been asked to supply it. Commissioner Laura Nichols-Samms also questioned whether the 66-cent amount could be justified without the data and raised concerns about the cost to people who use the ferries daily.
Ms. Nichols-Samms said she had understood the surcharge would apply only to ticketed passengers and asked that the order be amended to exclude luggage. The commission did not adopt that amendment during the discussion.
Commissioner Clement Magras favored continuing the surcharge, saying that “the fuel crisis continues” and that the charge was still needed. He agreed that it should apply only to passengers.
Mr. Hughes opposed another extension, citing the hearing examiner’s conclusions about the ferry companies’ return on assets. He argued that the operators should cover fuel costs from revenue they were already collecting under the existing fares until a revised rate structure is implemented.
The surcharge was initially approved in June for 90 days and extended for another 30 days at the PSC’s September 8 meeting. Although commissioners discussed increasing it to 75 cents in September, that change was not approved; members confirmed Tuesday that the authorized amount remained 66 cents.
The surcharge discussion followed separate action on the broader ferry rate investigation, in which commissioners adopted portions of the hearing examiner’s report while deferring a decision on the fare structure. New permanent fares were not put into effect Tuesday, and Mr. Hughes invited the ferry companies to return with a surcharge request at the commission’s next meeting.
