Petrojam refinery. – File
Petrojam Limited has sought to shed light on the transfer of $19.7 billion from the agency to the Consolidated
As customers contend with the increasing cost of energy bill, they may often ask what their alternatives are.
But before you even consider costly renewable energy systems, you should first adopt a conservation approach.
|
The average Jamaican household (that spends on average $12,000 per month on electricity bill) can spend $2 million on alternative energy.
|
Coming off the grid isn’t merely about divorcing the company that supplies your power and charges you on a monthly basis. It’s more than that; it’s about cheaper means of supplying and using power.
“If you are not one to maximise the energy saving opportunities, producing power on your own, and getting off the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) grid won’t save you money,” said Nathan Parkins, design technician at Alternative Power Sources.
Renewable energy systems are designed to match your current consumption, that is the more you consume, the bigger and more costly your system will have to be.
“If you don’t conserve, you could very well end up spending $5 million on a system when you could have had one for $3 million,” he said.
Some energy savings opportunities are free.
Turning off lights that aren’t in use may sound like the usual energy savings lecture, but if you aren’t flicking the switch, you are increasing wastage.
Lights on during the daylight hours, are obviously wasteful.
Then there are some suggestions that would require you to spend a little extra cash.
Equipment that trap heat and in turn pass it on to you, without electricity, are an option.
Opt for solar water heater over electric water heater, Parkins advised.
“We pay so much to use the electricity to get hot water, yet we have the sun,” he said. “I can safely say solar water heater can shave 15 per cent off your light bill.”
Checks by the Sunday Finance found that the National Housing Trust (NHT) offers loans to for solar water heaters to existing mortgagers with a maximum funding of $250,000.
But, if you have already got a loan from the NHT, you would have to wait 10 years before you can access the maximum $1.5 million funding for solar panels.
Nonetheless, there are some less pricey options, which are common to most households.
People with up-to-date energy style appliances will use less power than those without.
So, if you are not too sentimental, you could think about doing away with your 30 year old refrigerator and cash in on a newer model.
Gas stoves get the energy savings nod of approval rather than an electric stove.
Overtime, old appliances lose efficiency and consume more power.
You could even place a timer on your refrigerator that shuts it off after a number of hours.
The average fridge runs 11 hours per day.
In addition, you should repair loose magnetic rubbers of the refrigerator door, it allows the cool air to leave, using up more power.
Don’t keep your fridge too close to the wall, the heat coil at the back needs enough room for sufficient circulation.
As for lighting, there’s LED. Though this is more expensive to buy than fluorescent bulbs, switching could reduce your power usage by 50 per cent.
But, Parkins said this is most necessary for businesses that need the use of light for longer periods.
Do you think the time has come to getting power on your own? Well, Parkins crunched the numbers for the Sunday Finance.
According to him, a household user who spends on average of $4,500 per month wouldn’t spend roughly half a million dollars on alternative energy.
As for the average Jamaican household that he said spends on average $12,000 per month, they can get an alternative system for $2 million.
What’s more, you don’t have to completely abandon the JPS, you could opt to make a particular room solar.
Read more:
CHIEF Executive Officer (CEO) of Jamaica’s PetroCaribe Development Fund (PDF) Dr Wesley Hughes has said that even a facile victory by
THE viability of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) has been questioned, with the light and power company in breach of loan covenants that could see creditors demanding immediate repayment of up to US$430 million ($42.4 billion). It’s a financial situation that has led to JPS Chief Executive Kelly Tomlin volunteering to a 10 per cent pay cut, as the company works with lenders and shareholders on a short-term solution, and talks with the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) about new tariff guidelines. “Given the macroeconomics that we are facing and given the regulatory environment, our lenders are now saying that they don’t believe they can give us any further waivers,” Tomlin told the Jamaica Observer yesterday. Auditors noted in JPS’s annual financial statements that the company has, since March 2012 — a month before Tomlin’s appointment — not been compliant with a condition included in long-term loan agreements with international development financial institutions, requiring the firm to maintain a 3:1 Debt to Earnings before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) ratio. The violation provides the lenders with the option of issuing notices of default and declaring all principal and interest amounting to US$430 million, as at December 31, 2012, as immediately payable, stated the auditor’s notesaccompanying the power company’s 2012 financial results. Should the respective lenders exercise their right to demand the repayment of this amount, it would cast significant doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern, without the support of the shareholders or other third parties, the statement said. Tomlin said yesterday that the company is in talks with creditors for an extension of the waivers while it works with the OUR and shareholders. JPS in its annual tariff submission to the OUR blamed the breach on “significant under-recovery of fuel costs” experienced in 2011 and 2012, including more than US$30 million last year alone. Against this background, the firm said its “continued viability… will be dependent on a change to the regulatory approach in relation to the recovery of fuel costs.” A quarter of the electricity that JPS transmits is lost to heat and theft, with the majority due to the latter. JPS contends that the challenge of substantially reducing leakages is socio-economic and largely outside of its control. In its submission to the OUR, JPS urged “regulatory acceptance of that fact” and called for a more holistic approach to combat electricity theft, including social intervention projects. JPS is asking the OUR to allow the full pass-through of fuel costs on light bills as of the effective billing date of the Annual Adjustment Determination — July 1, 2013. The company said it is essential to ensuring the viability of the utility, given the context that in a typical year, its return on profit “is not likely to be more than two to three per cent of the total cost of electricity, against the background of what it deems as unfair penalties as they relate to the recovery of fuel costs. The company noted that the losses penalty increases as sales shrink, given that the losses are calculated as a percentage of sales, and increases as the price of oil goes up. JPS reported a 63 per cent decline in annual net profit to US$12.9 million on flat sales last year. The fuel penalty actually represented four per cent of the cost of fuel, thereby virtually eliminating all of the operating profit of the utility in 2012, the company said in its submission. According to the light and power company, if approved, this measure would result in “a marginal increase in the average residential customer’s bill of less than 0.5 per cent or $16 per month”. JPS suggests that customers stand to benefit substantially over the medium term, through a vibrant and viable JPS that can support generation expansion to significantly lower cost and invest in the network to improve service and reliability. The successful implementation of a sustainable loss reduction programme, aimed at regularising 10,000 – 15,000 households per annum, will ultimately also result in a substantial reduction in the cost of electricity for all, said the company in its submission. “The problem is everybody is willing to help if they see light at the end of the tunnel, but with this particular regulatory framework, there can be no light at the end of the tunnel because we seriously do not know how to stop crime, and that’s what we are being asked to do,” Tomlin said yesterday. “We are giving power to everybody; that’s our goal, to electrify 100 per cent of Jamaica, but we all know 100 per cent of Jamaica cannot afford electricity,” she argued. Meanwhile, Tomlin said that the company has independently executed a number of cost-cutting measures in the face of severe budget constraints. “Customers don’t want us to reduce our capital budgets, or else you will experience more and more outages. But we have had redundancies and we are doing what we can,” Tomlin said, revealing that, in addition to her 10 per cent pay cut, other executives have volunteered to give up their vacation. “We are asking everybody to give,” she said. “Unfortunately, our charitable contributions have also been severely slashed.” Read more: THE EDITOR, Sir: I would like to condemn the recent theft of the 53 batteries from the solar-lighting system along the Highway 2000 corridor. The solar-powered lights are the latest state-of-the-art upgrade that was introduced to help reduce Jamaica’s cost of generating electricity. The wholesale theft of these solar batteries is a handicap to modernisation in Jamaica. I propose that going forward: 1. The Government should explore purchasing units that don’t stick out as solar-powered lights. 2. They should not publicise the installation of additional units. 3. If possible, they should embed tracking devices within these units to trace them if they are stolen. 4. Provide effective police patrol in areas where these lights are installed. 5. In addition, the courts should throw the book at anyone caught and convicted of stealing these batteries to send a strong message that this will not be tolerated. We can deter future theft of these energy-saving units, which Jamaica desperately needs to help wean ourselves off of petroleum addiction. PATRICK CALLUM patrickcallum@yahoo.com Read more: THE Jamaica Public Service (JPS) says its customers will see a five per cent decrease in their electricity bill this month, despite the continued devaluation of the Jamaican currency. This decrease, the light and power company said last night, is due to a reduction in the cost of the fuel used to generate electricity. “Each month, the fuel charge on electricity bills changes, depending on the cost of the oil that JPS and other power-generating companies buy to produce electricity,” JPS said. “The fuel & IPP cost on bills for April is $24.35 per kWh, compared to the charge of $26.54 per kWh applied to March bills. “This means that a residential customer who consistently uses 200 kWh will be paying about $400 less for his/her bill this month, compared to what he paid last month. This customer will pay $7,518 for the 200 kWh of electricity used, as against the $7,918.55 that was paid in March for the same usage,” the company said. The JPS, however, urged customers to continue their conservation efforts as the final bill amount will depend on total electricity used. Read more: KINGSTON, Jamaica – Despite the continued devaluation of the Jamaican dollar, Jamaica Public Service (JPS) customers will see an average of five per cent reduction in their electricity bills for April, the power company says.
The decrease, JPS says, is due to a reduction in the cost of the fuel used to generate electricity. JPS explained that each month the fuel charge on electricity bills changes, depending on the cost of the oil used to produce electricity. The Fuel & IPP Cost on bills for April is $24.35 per kWh, compared to the charge of $26.54 per kWh applied to March bills. This means that residential customers who consistently use 200 kWh will be paying about $400 less for his bill this month, compared to what was paid last month, JPS said in a release Friday. This customer will pay $7,518 for the 200 kWh of electricity used, as against the $7,918.55 that was paid in March for the same usage. Read more: KINGSTON, Jamaica – Despite the continued devaluation of the Jamaican dollar, Jamaica Public Service (JPS) customers will see an average of five per cent reduction in their electricity bills for April, the power company says.
The decrease, JPS says, is due to a reduction in the cost of the fuel used to generate electricity. JPS explained that each month the fuel charge on electricity bills changes, depending on the cost of the oil used to produce electricity. The Fuel & IPP Cost on bills for April is $24.35 per kWh, compared to the charge of $26.54 per kWh applied to March bills. This means that residential customers who consistently use 200 kWh will be paying about $400 less for his bill this month, compared to what was paid last month, JPS said in a release Friday. This customer will pay $7,518 for the 200 kWh of electricity used, as against the $7,918.55 that was paid in March for the same usage. Read more: THE EDITOR, Sir: I must thank Winsome Callum of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) for her response (‘Don’t mislead the public, Mr Montague’,Gleaner, April 9, 2013) to my calls for her company to share in the sacrifices the whole nation is being called to undertake. The call was made on March 6, 2013 for her company to reduce electricity rates by 10-12 percentage points. Two recommendations were then made. 1) For JPS to use the recommended Office of Utilities Regulation rates, as contained in the current request for proposal (RFP), for alternative energy solutions. JPS is suggesting a rate of US$0.2672 per kilowatt-hour. If you add the US$0.11 per kilowatt-hour, for transmission and distribution, you would get US$0.3772 per kilowatt-hour. JPS charges approximately, US$0.40 per kilowatt-hour. A decrease in its rates to match the OUR rates would be welcomed by all JPS customers. 2) The Government was also asked to reduce the so-called guaranteed 17.5 per cent profits. The writer claims there are no such guaranteed profits. Therefore, could JPS consider publishing the terms and conditions of the licence? Would the JPS also consider engaging the OUR and see how best it could bring the rates in harmony? Noting that alternative energy solutions are more expensive? I am well aware that JPS is one of our best corporate and compassionate citizens and will take into account the feeling of merciless exploitation, that many of its customers feel when we get our monthly bills. I am also heartened by the openness of the company for dialogue and anxiously await an invitation so to do. In the meantime, all of Jamaica would be so happy if the JPS announce a cut in its rates. JPS, we are depending on you to help in whatever way you can to advance Jamaica. Chairman, JLP Read more: THE EDITOR, Sir: I must thank Winsome Callum of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) for her response (‘Don’t mislead the public, Mr Montague’,Gleaner, April 9, 2013) to my calls for her company to share in the sacrifices the whole nation is being called to undertake. The call was made on March 6, 2013 for her company to reduce electricity rates by 10-12 percentage points. Two recommendations were then made. 1) For JPS to use the recommended Office of Utilities Regulation rates, as contained in the current request for proposal (RFP), for alternative energy solutions. JPS is suggesting a rate of US$0.2672 per kilowatt-hour. If you add the US$0.11 per kilowatt-hour, for transmission and distribution, you would get US$0.3772 per kilowatt-hour. JPS charges approximately, US$0.40 per kilowatt-hour. A decrease in its rates to match the OUR rates would be welcomed by all JPS customers. 2) The Government was also asked to reduce the so-called guaranteed 17.5 per cent profits. The writer claims there are no such guaranteed profits. Therefore, could JPS consider publishing the terms and conditions of the licence? Would the JPS also consider engaging the OUR and see how best it could bring the rates in harmony? Noting that alternative energy solutions are more expensive? I am well aware that JPS is one of our best corporate and compassionate citizens and will take into account the feeling of merciless exploitation, that many of its customers feel when we get our monthly bills. I am also heartened by the openness of the company for dialogue and anxiously await an invitation so to do. In the meantime, all of Jamaica would be so happy if the JPS announce a cut in its rates. JPS, we are depending on you to help in whatever way you can to advance Jamaica. Chairman, JLP Read more:
TOMLIN… our goal is to electrify 100 per cent of Jamaica.
Callum
Callum