Rainford
Mark Titus,
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Eleven people, including three women, were arrested by the police for illegal abstraction of electricity in Clarendon early Tuesday morning.
Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) crews assisted by the security personnel pulled down 120 throw-up connections during the operation.
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Those arrested are from the Clarendon communities of Lionel Town, Sedge Pond and the
PRIVATE Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) President Christopher Zacca says the body is “extremely disappointed” by another delay in the Office of Utilities Regulation’s (OUR) decision on the award of the 360 megawatt energy project. “Quite frankly, the PSOJ is concerned that we will miss the 2015 deadline for the introduction of new generation and we simply cannot afford to,” Zacca told Monday night‘s installation ceremony of the Rotary Club of St Andrew North at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston.
ABSTRACT Towards the Domestic Adoption of Wind and Solar Energy Technologies: Assessing Awareness, Knowledge, Attitudes and Predicting Householder Behaviour Davina W. Gayle This exploratory study assessed awareness and knowledge levels of Jamaican household heads, their attitude towards microgeneration technologies specifically wind turbines and solar panels, as well as the likelihood of them changing from conventional energy sources to renewable using these technologies. The diffusion of innovations theory, theory of reasoned action and theory of planned behaviour formed the theoretical framework of the research. Two hundred household heads living in urban and rural, lower to upper class neighbourhoods, with ages ranging 19 to 85, participated in a KAP survey. Respondents were selected based on a mix of quota, convenience and purposive nonprobability sampling. The findings showed high awareness levels of microwind turbines and solar panels; low to moderate knowledge levels of these technologies and the renewable energy they generate; generally a favourable attitude towards both; and a modest percentage of household heads indicated the likelihood of installing a wind turbine or solar panel in the near future. Further research is needed. It is recommended that although some household heads may be willing to make the change from conventional energy sources to wind and solar powered using microgeneration technologies, intervention is needed from government and civil society, for there to be wide scale behaviour change. Keywords: Davina W. Gayle; Wind and solar energy technologies; Jamaica NB: This study was not commissioned by the JSEA, but was intended for the public domain, via organizations such as the JSEA, to help promote the use of Renerwable Energy in Jamaica Full Document LATIN America and the Caribbean’s renewable energy endowment is large enough to cover its projected 2050 electricity needs 22 times over, according to a new report commissioned by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The report, Rethinking our Energy Future, argues that lower prices and new technologies are making renewables a viable alternative. Solar, geothermal, wave, wind and biomass sources in this region could produce up to 80 petawatt-hour of electricity. One petawatt-hour is equivalent to one trillion kilowatt-hour, roughly three times the amount of electricity Mexico consumes in one year. At present, Latin America generates 1.3 petawatt hour. By 2050, demand is expected to grow to between 2.5 to 3.5 petawatt- hour. The report addresses a series of myths surrounding renewable energies, noting that several of these alternative technologies have become price competitive with conventional technologies, offer good investment opportunities and should be taken into consideration by policymakers aiming to diversify their national energy matrixes, reduce fuel supply vulnerabilities and cut greenhouse gas emissions. “Though Latin America uses more renewable energy than any other region in the world, it faces difficult choices as it seeks to generate the electricity it needs to grow without harming the environment,” said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno. “Renewables are becoming a viable and attractive option that needs to be explored.” The report was presented yesterday in Bogot THE Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo) has expressed surprise at the objections raised by lobby group Citizens United To Reduce Electricity (CURE) to its use of trained police officers to remove illegal connections and carry out arrests without company representatives being present. On Monday, CURE The Editor, IMF Letter of Intent for Jamaica, April 2013 Renewable Energy exerpts extracted from: Jamaica: Letter of Intent, Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies, and Technical Memorandum of Understanding The following item is a Letter of Intent of the government of Jamaica, which GROWTH STRATEGY Labour Market Interventions and Reform Strategic Investments 4 With regard to the promotion of renewable energy, the JPS All Island Promote liberalization in delivery through continued efforts to facilitate distributed 6 Complete document: THE EDITOR, Sir: This is an open letter to Local Government Minister Noel Arscott. I read of your plans to reduce our street-light bill by $1 billion, and I support your effort. I remind you that under our two recent political regimes, much work was put into establishing and documenting a memorandum of understanding between the local authorities and the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) to govern the method of charging for street-light service. The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) was the facilitator, and the Association of Local Government Authorities (ALGA) represented the parish councils in the negotiations. I suppose JPS would not be averse to you starting all over again, since that would allow them to continue overcharging us. Minister, the OUR, along with the JPS and surely ALGA, has much information on the way forward. You don’t even have to go that far, as the real workers in your ministry who were party to the deliberations would also have the information. The document was awaiting the signature of JPS or the ruling of the OUR, and you should be able to bring about a final position shortly. Please pursue this matter for us, the payers of property tax. MILTON C. BROWN Former President, ALGA Read more: THE EDITOR, Sir: This is an open letter to Local Government Minister Noel Arscott. I read of your plans to reduce our street-light bill by $1 billion, and I support your effort. I remind you that under our two recent political regimes, much work was put into establishing and documenting a memorandum of understanding between the local authorities and the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) to govern the method of charging for street-light service. The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) was the facilitator, and the Association of Local Government Authorities (ALGA) represented the parish councils in the negotiations. I suppose JPS would not be averse to you starting all over again, since that would allow them to continue overcharging us. Minister, the OUR, along with the JPS and surely ALGA, has much information on the way forward. You don’t even have to go that far, as the real workers in your ministry who were party to the deliberations would also have the information. The document was awaiting the signature of JPS or the ruling of the OUR, and you should be able to bring about a final position shortly. Please pursue this matter for us, the payers of property tax. MILTON C. BROWN Former President, ALGA Read more:
ZACCA
http://jsea.org.jm/docs/Wind%
A solar panel is seen in this photo. Lower prices and new technologies are making solar, wind and other resources competitive with fossil fuels for power generation, according to the Inter-American Development Bank.
April 17, 2013
describes the policies that Jamaica intends to implement in the context of its
request for financial support from the IMF.
11. The government is committed to implementing a growth strategy built on time
bound fiscal consolidation and structural reforms aimed at reducing impediments to
growth, complemented by strategic investment facilitation. Among the main impediments to
growth are high public debt (142 percent of GDP as of end 2011/12), low factor productivity and
competitiveness, high energy cost,…
15.
The Renewable Energy and Efficiency Technology Programme (in partnership with the
CARICOM Education for Employment Programme) to create a skilled workforce to design,
install and maintain Renewable Energy Systems (beginning January 2014).
17.
Implement energy sector initiatives to achieve fuel-source diversification, facilitate
energy conservation and promote liberalization in delivery to achieve progressive
reductions in the cost of energy. Accordingly, the government will:
? Diversify energy sources from oil to gas based and renewables.4
!!!!!!! The construction and commissioning by the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) of a 360 Megawatt
Combined Cycle plant by 2015 remains a centerpiece of the medium term energy sector strategy, as well as a
build out of renewable energy capacity.!!!!!!
Electricity Licence was amended to, among other things, establish a 25MW ceiling (previously 15MW) for
renewable energy generation capacity to be installed and sold to the JPS grid without competitive tendering. In
addition, in November 2012 the Office of Utilities regulation (OUR) issued a Request for Proposals for the supply
of 115MW of electricity generation from Renewable Energy and the bid period was subsequently extended by
two months to June 2013.
generation networks.6
In 2011, the Government introduced Net Billing regulation, and in May 2012 issued licenses for the first eleven
participants in the Net Billing initiative. The Government, through the Energy Security and Efficiency
Enhancement Project has provided resources for a US$4.6 million line of credit through the Development Bank of
Jamaica for businesses to implement renewable energy and efficiency-enhancement projects. In addition,
The Development Bank of Jamaica has instituted a J$100 million fund for residential energy loans to finance
renewable energy solutions such as small wind turbines, solar panels or biogas ingesters, while the National
Housing Trust has introduced two loan facilities to facilitate the installation of Solar Water Heaters and Solar
Photovoltaic Panels.
http://jsea.org.jm/docs/IMF%