Customers of Jamaica‘s main electricity supplier, Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) are to see higher prices for electricity for a second straight month.
JPS will hike electricity costs, by about 5.5 percent.
That increase comes as fuel charges rose to a five month high.
Last month, fuel and IPP charges rose by as much as 17 percent.
That increase was cited as the main reason behind inflation in September alone, being equivalent to that of the previous five mnths combined.
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Customers of Jamaica‘s main electricity supplier, Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) are to see higher prices for electricity for a second straight month.
JPS will hike electricity costs, by about 5.5 percent.
That increase comes as fuel charges rose to a five month high.
Last month, fuel and IPP charges rose by as much as 17 percent.
That increase was cited as the main reason behind inflation in September alone, being equivalent to that of the previous five mnths combined.
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Gasolene
Oil gave up early gains and hovered around $92 per barrel on Wednesday after the government reported a bigger-than-expected increase in United States crude supplies.
Supplies rose by 2.9 million barrels last week. That was almost double what analysts had forecast, according to Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
Gasoline supplies also rose. Analysts had predicted a decline.
The extra gasoline and oil in storage tends to push prices down, because it suggests that there’s enough to go around, or that demand is low.
In afternoon trading on Wednesday, oil was down 7 cents to $92.02 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil had been trading above $92 per barrel earlier in morning, as European stocks had a positive day, and hopes grew that Spain might be on the verge of requesting a bailout.
The waffling oil prices matched stock indexes that are also mixed in midday trading. Technology giants IBM and Intel both said customers are holding back. Economic weakness generally means less demand for oil, pushing prices down.
Brent crude, which is used to price international varieties of oil, fell 80 cents to $113.20 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
In other energy futures trading on the Nymex, heating oil fell 2 cents to $3.17 per gallon, natural gas gained 5 cents to $3.48 per 1,000 cubic feet and wholesale gasoline fell 6 cents to $2.79 per gallon.
– AP
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THE start date for the modernisation of Jamaica’s oil refinery, Petrojam, appears to have been brought to the front of the queue of Venezuelan expansion projects.
Already delayed by five years, the project failed to take off due to the inability of the owners
The price of oil fell Friday on concerns that growth in global crude demand will slow even as more petroleum becomes available.
Benchmark oil fell 21 cents Friday to $91.86 per barrel in New York.
On Friday, the International Energy Agency issued a new report predicting slower growth in demand for oil over the next five years.
It cited the sluggish global economy and growing energy efficiency. The agency also forecast that supplies will increase, in part because U.S. production from shale formations is exceeding expectations.
The IEA is an organization of 28 oil-importing countries that collects and analyzes data about global petroleum supply and demand.
Friday’s decline in the price of oil eroded some of the gains from earlier this week, when tensions between Syria and Turkey raised worries about supplies. Still, the price of U.S. benchmark crude climbed 2.2 per cent over the past week.
AAA said gasoline prices at the pump fell less than a penny from Thursday to $3.81 for a gallon of regular. That’s about 41 cents higher than a year ago but down 5 cents from a month ago.
Brent crude, which is used to price international varieties of oil, dropped $1.07 to $113.61 per barrel in London.
In other energy trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, heating oil fell 3.32 cents to end at $3.2239 per gallon.
Wholesale gasoline dropped 6.28 cents to end at $2.8928 per gallon and natural gas rose less than a penny to end at $3.611 per 1,000 cubic feet.
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With competitors like Scotiabank and Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS), newcomer Nation Growth Microfinance Limited found a way to attract more clients to its Green Energy Loan.
While its rivals offered an interest rate of over nine per cent on similar loan packages, Nation Growth’s rate is the lowest in the island at eight per cent.
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Green energy loans are becoming more prevalent. (Photos: Aston Spaulding) |
“We’re not going to leave out any sector of the society,” said senior sales manager Vernon Dunkley.
“In pricing our product, we assume eight per cent is the rate that the average person will find feasible.”
But although eight per cent can be considered unprofitable, Dunkley said the company would not raise its rates since this will leave some potential customers behind.
“We don’t think the way our competitors think,” he said at a Development Bank of Jamaica energy conference at Emancipation Park on Friday.
“If we give customers an opportunity to save, then they end up with more funds to spend on other things, like one of our other products.”
Building customer relationships is a crucial strategy, he said, noting that small increments of profit spread out over many clients will leave Nation Growth with a bottom line similar to other firms.
Green energy loans are the latest offering by financial institutions that provide small and medium enterprises as well as residential customers the opportunity to retrofit their properties with energy conservation devices.
The ongoing discussion about alternative energy sources has provided the perfect opening to introduce people to what those alternatives are, Dunkley said.
All three institutions have partnered with companies providing renewable energy solutions to make it easier for customers to choose alternatives.
Both Nation Growth’s and Scotiabank’s partnerships with Iree Solar and New Leaf, respectively, allow for customers to sell any excess energy they might generate to the Jamaica Public Service using the standard operating contracts provided through the Offices of Utility Regulation.
VMBS’s partnership with ConserveIt provides discounts on heating systems and other energy sources, said the energy company’s chief marketer, Milton Jackson.
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THRICE in the last two months or so, where this writer lives has been out of power for more than three hours – twice for about 12 hours. Power outages are almost daily affairs for many Jamaicans and the usual excuse about the “teams” being too busy tending to other faults to respond with alacrity no longer rings with any conviction.
Perhaps a part of the problem is that JPS appears to view “emergency” differently from their customers. A customer experiencing a power outage calling JPS is first presented with an option relating to bill balance or about payment to JPS. The second option is to report an emergency. When one enters that menu number, one is reminded that the line is for emergencies only and further input is required from the customer to proceed. The caller is then reminded about recording of the call for quality purposes. Then, and only then, can one speak to a representative about the emergency
Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining (STEM), Hon. Phillip Paulwell
Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining (STEM), Hon. Phillip Paulwell, is urging small and medium sized enterprises to take advantage of the energy management loan facility being offered by the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ).
The DBJ/PetroCaribe (SMEs) Energy Fund allows SMEs to access loans of up to $30 million at a rate of 7.5 per cent to retrofit their operations to accommodate energy efficiency, energy conservation and alternative energy sources.
Under the programme, business operators across all sectors of the economy are encouraged to refurbish their facilities with renewable energy solutions, such assolar water heaters and solar panels, in an effort to effectively manage and conserve energy in their day-to-day operations.
However, speaking at the DBJ
Claude Clarke, Contributor
While I disagree with Phillip Paulwell’s assertion that the distribution of electricity should be opened up to competition, I am convinced that his newly announced policy – to open the choice of the energy sources used to produce electricity to competition – is potentially the key to bringing electricity costs to levels that would give the Jamaican economy a chance to compete and make this essential service affordable for the consumer.
Present and known technology allows electric power to be most efficiently delivered through transmission lines. This type of delivery involves an extensive and expensive infrastructure, and seeking to replicate it would be highly wasteful of capital. New entrants to the business would be required to use valuable capital to construct very costly infrastructure, and Jamaicans would, ultimately, have to pick up the tab. This, combined with the fact that distribution represents no more than 20 per cent of the price of delivered electricity, supports the view that electricity distribution is a natural monopoly.
Monopolies are not always bad, and in many situations they are necessary for the most efficient delivery of an economic product. However, in these circumstances, it is Government’s duty to use regulations to stand in the place of the market to ensure best prices, quality, and service.
A fairly well-developed electricity distribution infrastructure already exists in Jamaica, and Government is in a position to apply the necessary regulatory and oversight authority to force the monopoly distributor to meet specific cost targets and set connectivity charges that are fair to its generation competitors.
essential national objectives
In contrast, electricity generation can only benefit from competition. As I said in July last year in my
