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This article was written in 2008 and we are still waiting on a resolution for net billing or net metering in Jamaica.
Kingston, Jamaica — (METERING.COM) — July 8, 2008
Mr. Roderick Gordon, Attorney-at-Law
The scale and investment in renewable energy worldwide have been staggering. Staggering when one thinks of the decades of fossil fuel dominance and dependence. Indeed, locomotion and static energy needs have been met almost exclusively by some form of generation that uses one form of fossil fuel or another, since man discovered the spark.
To be clear, there are two identifiable areas of renewable energy viability that Jamaica has identified. First, the use of ethanol (and eventually biodiesel) to substitute and conserve the use of imported petroleum. Second, the use of energy generated from renewable sources to supplement and hopefully retire some of the current generation from oil consuming units.
Both take significant investment and long term plans by private capital. Private investors, whether local or international, are primarily motivated by the rate of return on the capital employed. There has to be a plausible and definable path to this return in the medium to long term. Such expectation is not new to Jamaica, as historically a number of incentive programmes and laws have been passed to encourage nascent industries.
There is a peculiar urgency about the need for such incentive however. It is painfully clear to both government and private citizen, that fossil fuel costs will never return to a comfort zone that one can not be concerned about. The pain is felt daily, in virtually every sphere of activity, and is constant.
This urgency is made more acute by the aggressive amount and scope of specific laws passed in developed countries, as well as developing ones, to attract capital to invest in the development of a renewable energy industry. It is well documented that the world leaders in the solar and biofuel industries, such as Germany and Spain, achieved this status by the early passing of a Renewable Energy Sources Act (
THE EDITOR, Sir:
I THINK the time has come for the Government to put in place some kind of mechanism, except the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), to examine the the affairs of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS). I say except the OUR as I don’t think this organisation has been doing enough to protect consumers from what appears to be the company’s shenanigans in its billing system. Talk to any Jamaican in any walk of life, be they company executive or the ordinary man in the street, and you will hear the same story: despite great efforts to reduce their consumption of electricity, the bill is always higher than the one before.
My own experience bears out the collective experience of most persons. I am chairperson of a strata corporation, responsible for the common areas of a shopping centre in Liguanea, St Andrew. In an effort to reduce electricity consumption, we turned off most of the light to the common areas during the month of June, but instead of seeing a reduction from the previous bill, our current bill is now over 30 per cent above May’s bill. How come, JPS?
The exchange rate was always used by the JPS to justify monthly increases to customers, but this can no longer be the case, as the rates have remained fairly stable for some time now. So, again, how come, JPS? If the country is being asked to conserve electricity so we can reduce our dependence on foreign oil, why should all the savings end up in the coffers of a foreign company rather than in the saving accounts of people who make the sacrifice?
I am, etc.,
Winston Barrett
wdbarrett123@yahoo.com
Disaster safeguards in place, says expert…
A leading local expert in energy says that efforts to drill for oil and gas off the coast of Jamaica are scheduled to resume in 2011, and that adequate systems are in place to prevent any accidents similar to the one in the Gulf of Mexico in April.
Consultant to the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica Dr Raymond Wright said 12 of 16 blocks have been licensed for drilling for oil offshore Jamaica. He said environmental impact assessments will be done on each drilling site, which involves collection information on Jamaica’s flora and fauna.
 WRIGHT… has said that environmental impact assessments will be done on each drilling site.
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However, he refused to be drawn on whether oil would be found in commercial quantities in Jamaican territory.
“There is oil and gas to be found in Jamaica. There are prospects for such (oil and gas) to be found in deep water, essentially the same water depths as those in the Gulf of Mexico,” he said.
Wright was the guest speaker at the annual general meeting of the Jamaica Institute of Environmental Professionals (JIEP), held at the Environmental Division of the Ministry of Land and Environment in Kingston last Wednesday.
He cited human error for the spill at BP’s Deepwater Horizon well in April, which resulted in 3.9 million barrels of oil gushing out into the ocean. Wright said it was “man-made errors in large measure” resulting in the non-maintenance of a blowout preventer which caused the spill. He noted that BP was “caught off guard” by the accident and “did not know what to do and how to respond”.
A blowout preventer is a large, specialised valve used to seal, control and monitor oil and gas wells.
It is the second largest oil spill in history behind a spill of 5.7 million gallons of oil in the Persian gulf in 1991.
He said of the 6,000 wells drilled in the Gulf of Mexico, this was first that resulted in a spill for this reason.
The threat from the Gulf spill to the Caribbean no longer exists as the sea currents took the oil northward and way from the region, Wright confirmed.
He noted that the fourth largest spill in history took place in Caribbean waters in 1979 when two tankers laden with petroleum collided off the coast of Tobago and caught fire, spilling 2.14 million barrels of oil in the sea in the process. He said although no assessment and very little clean-up was done, there was little effect as a result because “apparently a lot (of the oil) evaporated and some fell to the ocean floor in clumps”.
He said 11 wells were drilled onshore and offshore Jamaica between 1966 and 1982, and oil and gas found in nine, but not in commercial amounts.
In the election of officers Marcia Creary was re-elected unopposed as president of the JIEP. Other members of the executive include vice president Eleanor Jones, treasurer Sean Townshend and secretary Danae Vaccianna.
While some investors feel they’re still waiting for the sun to rise on the solar energy industry, it’s already high noon for some parts of the sector.
In some places in the U.S. today, solar photovoltaic, PV, technology
The most pressing problem facing the country at this time is not crime and violence, but the arrangement that we have with the Jamaica Public Service. The first chief executive officer under the new arrangement, Charles Matthews, had told us from very early that a time was coming when many Jamaicans would not be able to afford electricity, and it seems we did not believe him. How could it be otherwise, given the kind of contract that his company was able to secure with the Government of Jamaica?
How could we have agreed to an arrangement that exposed the entire economy to the kind of disaster that we are now facing, and why did it take so long for us to realise that the situation was unsustainable, and take timely steps to correct it? The Jamaica Manufacturers Association, Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, the Jamaica Exporters Association, and numerous other consumers have been complaining bitterly for a long time, and more recently, the Spanish ambassador to Jamaica has added his voice to the chorus. God bless Jesus.
Severe cash-flow problems
By the time the cost of electricity is factored into the prices of even the most basic goods, half of them get left at the cash register and of those people who are able to pay their own electricity bills, they can hardly buy anything else. As the disposable dollar is being taken away, businesses are losing their customers, resulting in severe cash-flow problems and as they struggle to pay their own exorbitant electricity bills, they find it extremely difficult to pay anyone else, including their staff. Even taxes become hard to pay. The domino effect takes over and before you know it, corruption sets in.
As economic activity slows down with demand, so will revenue collection and this time, enforcement will not be of much help. We must address this problem urgently. We will not meet the International Monetary Fund conditionalities if we don’t.
It is also in the JPS’s interest that this matter be resolved as soon as possible as the current arrangement is leading to a stalemate. It is quite possible to arrive at a modified contract that will allow all concerned to make a reasonable return on their investment.
I am, etc.,
VICTOR NUGENT
St Ann’s Bay
A loan programme by the National Housing Trust, designed to assist its contributors acquire and install solar water heaters, has come under fire from clean energy interests who say the programme is flawed.
But loan subscription figures from the NHT show that the solar facility is a popular programme among homeowners, surpassing even the agency’s expectations.
David Barrett of the 11-year-old Jamaica Solar Energy Association – a non-governmental organisation made up of manufacturers, retailers, marketers, installers and providers of solar energy, and academics – says the loan programme’s repayment terms are discouraging to many persons interested in accessing the facility.
“One is that the loan period is not long enough for a device that is guaranteed by the manufacturers for 25 years,” Barrett said at an energy forum in Kingston.
“You have something like a five year payback period of the loan and that’s too short,” he said.
To qualify for the loan, persons-must prove they are property owners, which Barrett cited as a disincentive, and he argued that the terms just did not fit the needs of a small family.
“The interest rate, although it is okay, is not attractive enough for persons to make that investment, so it is not doing that well,” Barrett said of the NHT programme.
Not underperforming
But the housing trust has provided data to help dispel the notion that the loan programme is underperforming.
According to the agency, 1,391 persons have received loans under the programme to date, against the NHT’s projected 1,326 loans.
NHT finances the purchase and installation of the system at interest rate of three per cent repayable within five years – plus a five per cent service charge.
The loan is capped at J$250,000.
The data provided by the trust showed that in the first year of the programme 203 persons received loans, 23 more than they had expected.
In 2007-08, some 230 persons, 77 less than projected, were successful in their applications. In 2008-09, loan approvals almost doubled to 401; and last year the numbers rose even higher to 489.
So far this year, 68 persons were successful in their loan applications.
Information gleaned from the NHT’s website confirmed that the solar water heater loan is available only to NHT contributors who possess a title for a residential property or who have enough funds in their contribution accounts to cover the cost of the system.
However, the water heater does not have to be installed on the premises being used to secure the loan.
The Jamaica Public Service Company Ltd (JPS) has erected the first of four wind turbines for its Wind Power Plant at Munro in St Elizabeth. The construction of the wind power plant comes as part of the electric utility’s fuel diversification effort, which will see a reduction in the company’s dependence on imported fuel.
The other three turbines will be erected during this month, while construction continues on the Power Plant’s substation. The project, which is costing the utility approximately J$800m, will add 3 megawatts of power to the national grid.
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President & CEO of JPS Damian Obiglio; vice-president of Generation Expansion Valentine Fagan; and manager of expansion projects, Alston Watson, discuss the ongoing work at the Munro Wind Power Plant.
A program in which people get loans from municipalities for energy efficiency upgrades and pay it back in property taxes is heating up.
| California is one of 19 states that have passed legislation for PACE participation. Above, Daniel Morabito, left, and Sal Sanchez of SolarCity install solar panels at a home in West Los Angeles. (Allen J. Schaben, Los Angeles Times / October 18, 2009 |
By Steve GelsiJuly 5, 2015
Reporting from Berkeley
BY Ariel SchwartzFri Jul 2, 2010
Think the trend of businesses making green office renovations is just a passing fad? Not according to the latest issue of EL Insights, which reports that the U.S. green building market value will balloon from $71.1 billion now to $173 billion by 2015. Commercial green building is expected to grow by 18.1% annually during the same time period from $35.6 billion to $81.8 billion. In this case, green building is defined as building with resource use and employee productivity in mind.
The explosive projected growth can be attributed both to a growing recognition of green building’s potential cost-savings as well as incentives from the government (i.e. the multi-million dollar Sustainable Communities Challenge Planning Grant program and the Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant program). Green renovation will also comprise a significant portion of future green building, thanks in no small part to government projects like then Recovery through Retrofit initiative, which offers $80 billion energy and environmental retrofits for federal buildings.
The growth in green building will lead to a number of changes in the larger building market, according to EL Insights: Construction workers will increasingly seek out green training programs, companies will spend more cash on green building technology (GE is already doing with its ecomagination initiative), and homes touting green building features will do better on the real estate market. All of this will result in cost savings for building and home owners, who will reap the benefits of lower energy and heating bills.
So if you haven’t been paying attention to the U.S. Green Building Council, now is the time to start–the non-profit offers virtually endless amounts of information on green building studies and LEED certification.