Kiribati

Getting Electricity in

Kiribati

Below is a detailed summary of the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain an electricity connection for a newly constructed building in Kiribati.

This information 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 185 economies. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2012.

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  • Standardized Company

  • Name of Utility: Public Utilities Board
  • City: South Tarawa

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Submit an application for an electricity connection to Public Utilities Board and await approval

Either an electrician doing the internal wiring or an applicant (Business owner) submits an application for a connection.

The applicant may have to submit the application before construction work for the building starts. The application should include details of the wiring schedules, details of circuits, main switch board and sub switchboards, details of circuit breakers and their outgoing circuits and other information relevant for the supply. Credentials of Electrical Supervisor (person who is in charge of electrical wiring) would be also required when submitting the application.

Where a substation site selected by the applicant and the utility agrees to its location remote from the street alignment boundary, the cost of all the utility high and medium voltage within the site may be charged to the owner of the premises.
There is no practice of signing a supply contract. Once electricity is flowing a customer is paying a fixed fee for consumption and there is no need to sign a supply contract.


Agency: Public Utilities Board 		16 calendar days AUD 120.0
2 Await purchase of the unit substation and accessories by the customer's contractor

In case installation of a transformer is required either the customer and his electrical contractor or the utility can order the transformer with the specifications given by the PUB.


Agency: Electrical Contractor 		30 calendar days no charge
* 3 Obtain an excavation permit at the Ministry of Works for Public Roads and at High Way Authority

To excavate the road first an electrician collects a form at the Ministry of Communication Transport & Tourism Development. The electrician will complete the form providing the location where the excavation will be done. The Highway Authority will authorize the work. Several other agencies must sign on the form (Water, Electricity, Telecom and Police department).
This form must be deposited at the Ministry of Works with a map of the exact work. An engineer will do a site visit to determine what kind of works are involved. In addition, a police approval is required to temporarily close the road as well as a police presence to control traffic flow during the trench digging and filling.



Agency: Ministry of Works for Public Roads and at High Way Authority 		19 calendar days AUD 180.0
4 Await completion of the external connection works by the Public Utilities Board

If a transformer is required then by law PUB are required to supply such equipment. They must also provide cabling, meters and other equipment that may be required to connect the power. However, in practice the customer provides the necessary material. The applicant’s contractor is responsible for the work from the transformer to the warehouse.


Agency: Public Utilities Board 		45 calendar days AUD 122,000.0
5 Await an inspection of the completed external connection works and basic internal wiring inspection by Public Utilities Board

At the completion of the work, the completion form (filled by the electrician or Supervisor) is submitted to the utility. Before a connection to supply is made, all equipment shall be capable of complying to the tests set out in AS/NZS 3000 and furthermore the installation shall satisfy to AS/NZS 30007:2007:
The contractor should forward the results of these tests to the utility.
Only basic tests of the internal wiring are performed by the utility. The basic test includes a visual inspection and overall insulation resistance etc, using basic equipment.



Agency: Public Utilities Board 		3 calendar days no charge
6 Await installation of the meter by the Public Utilities Board and electricity starts flowing

The meter is installed after the inspection. A meter is installed by the utility at a time convenient for the applicant. After receiving a notification that the building is ready to be hooked up and test results for the building are given to the utility. In the utility there is a separate unit which deals only with final electricity connections.
The electricity starts flowing immediately provided that everything is in order.

Agency: Public Utilities Board 		3 calendar days no charge
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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