Antigua and Barbuda

Getting Electricity in

Antigua and Barbuda

Listed below are the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain an electricity connection for a newly constructed building.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Name of Utility: Antigua Public Utilities Authority
  • City: St. John's

About This Topic

To see indicator data for all economies, see the Getting Electricity page. To see how economies rank, see the Rankings page.

No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Customer gets application form stamped from DCA (Development Control Authority)

The DCA verifies that the building has the necessary clearance to build. Applicant submits drawings and approval to build certificate to DCA. All applications for new service are to be filled out in quadruplets and taken to the Development Control Authority (DCA), to be approved before they are brought to Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA). DCA typically takes a week to process the application.

Agency: Development Control Authority 		7 calendar days XCD 200.0
2 Submit application to Antigua Public Utility Authority (APUA) and awaits site inspection

When bringing these forms to A.P.U.A. they shall be accompanied with a valid photo I.D. and a detailed location of where the service is desired. A.P.U.A. will make an inspection within 5 working days. In the event this service doesn't comply with the authority's standard it will be rejected and will be filed away until the applicant informs the authority that he/she is ready for a second inspection. Once the engineer has conducted the site inspection and assessed the requirements of materials (in most cases for a 140 KVA connection, a distribution transformer and accessories will be required), the total estimated cost is prepared.

Agency: Antigua Public Utilities Authority 		7 calendar days no charge
3 Customer receives internal wiring inspection from APUA

Payment of estimated amount is usually made in whole, but sometimes if the customer requests, two part payment can be made - 50% at receiving estimate, and balance after internal inspection. Only after complete payment is received, the utility does the external works. Customer has to be present during inspection. Utility conducts internal wiring inspection and instructs the customer to make the balance payment so that external works can commence.

Agency: Antigua Public Utilities Authority 		21 calendar days XCD 43,200.0
4 APUA conducts external connection works, meter installation, electricity starts flowing.

No security deposit charged for customers who own the building.

Agency: Antigua Public Utilities Authority 		7 calendar days no charge
Explore Economy Data