Debbie-Ann Wright, News Editor
The Gleaner/Power 106 News Centre
Opposition leader Andrew Holness says the current Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) licence is a deterrent to generators of electricity entering the energy market.
While the JPS has a monopoly on transmission and distribution of energy, other power producers are free to operate in Jamaica.
However, Holness said under existing legislation, producers of energy in commercial quantities must sell to the JPS, which then resells it to customers through its transmission and distribution network.
Holness argued that there is an opportunity for adverse transfer pricing, which works against the interest of the consumer in receiving competitive prices for energy.
He has reiterated calls for the government to look at separating the generating assets of the JPS from its transmission and distribution assets.
Holness said this would allow all generators of electricity to negotiate on equal footing with the deregulated entity that controls the transmission and distribution assets formerly owned by JPS.
However, he cautions that the government should seek to dismantle through dialogue and negotiation.
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