San Jose, Mar 17 (EFE; additional reporting by The Costa Rica Star).– Clean energy sources have been used to generate 100 percent of the electricity this year in Costa Rica, the state-owned Costa Rican Electricity Institute, or ICE, said.

“The year 2015 has been one of electricity totally friendly to the environment for Costa Rica. According to National Electric System figures, during January, February and so far in March (75 days), it has not been necessary to use hydrocarbons to supply the country’s grid,” the ICE said in a statement.

Favorable rain conditions at four of the main hydroelectric power plants have helped generation, the ICE said.

“With these conditions and the reserves accumulated to date, the ICE estimates that the downward trend in rates for all consumers will continue in the second quarter,” the power agency said.

Costa Rica ranks No. 2 in Latin America, trailing only Uruguay, in providing electric service with a household coverage rate of 99.4 percent, according to the most recent World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Index. EFE

Lower Electricity Costs for Some Households in Costa Rica

With lower crude oil prices shaking up the commodities futures markets on a global level, ICE has worked with the Regulatory Authority of Public Services (Spanish intials: ARESEP) to lower electricity rates in some regions of Costa Rica.

As a result, some households served by ICE have already observed a slight reduction on their monthly power bills. It is important to note that this reduction will not apply to all homes. Customers of the National Power and Light Company (Spanish initials: CNFL) may not see a reduction since this utility company has been busy performing structural upgrades to the power grid, which means that they have already used up reserve funds.