With high light bills, constantly increasing petrol prices, the promise of the PNP last year to remove the GCT component on JPS bills, Petrojam refusing to divulge the money value of the materials after processing one barrel of oil and claiming
Weeks after stakeholders in the petroleum sector met with energy minister, Phillip Paulwell, he is yet to respond to their proposals for reducing
SOLAR power has finally become a viable option, driven by falling prices for photovoltaic panels and the soaring cost of oil, say proponents of the alternative energy.
Rooftop panels, which could last for 25 to 30 years, will now pay for themselves in just six or seven years, claim advocates. Until recently, the pay-back period was up to 20 years.
The cost of solar cells has fallen by as much as 49.5 per cent since the start of 2011, according to the PVX spot market index, which tracks the monthly wholesale costs of the industry.
IN THE past two and a half decades, countries all over the world have sought to pursue the restructuring and introduction of competition into the electricity sector. In general, this has been prompted by the view that state ownership of utilities as well as the absence of competition, whether for privately or publicly owned utilities, invariably results in excessive costs, low service quality, poor investment decisions, and lack of innovation in delivering service to customers.
Furthermore, as has been the case in virtually every other sector of the world economy, rapid changes in technology, have created opportunities for new industrial structures capable of delivering electricity at lower cost. New technologies have impacted the generation of electricity and the computing systems used to meter and dispatch power. Customers, especially those with low levels of demand, have benefitted globally through innovations in electricity generation and customer service delivery. Unfortunately, in countries where profits are guaranteed, regulation is weak or competition is minimal (or non-existent) the electricity sectors have been slow to adapt and exploit these technological opportunities.
Models of competition
Several models of competition and industry restructuring have emerged in the past two decades. Respective country approaches usually involve one or more initiatives drawn from a portfolio of recommended practices and typically deployed on an incremental, progressive basis. Some of these include:
a)
THE GENERAL election has been won, state power now rests with the People’s National Party (PNP), and Phillip Paulwell no longer appears to be excited about ensuring
Phillip Paulwell, Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, will on Tuesday provide answers to questions regarding GCT on electricity bills that were tabled by North East St Catherine Member of Parliament Gregory Mair.
Gregory Mair seeks answers on light bill tax promise
1. Can the Minister advise what is the net contribution to the Consolidated Fund of General Consumption Tax (GCT) charged to electricity bills, broken down by customer category (that is, residential, commercial, industrial)?
2. Can the Minister advise, of the total residential consumers, what number and percentage are below the GCT exempt threshold of 200 KWh/month?
3. Can the Minister advise how many additional residential consumers would benefit if the GCT
THE Government is not using the pricing mechanism of the state-owned refinery, Petrojam, to jack up the price of petrol in order to benefit from increased tax revenues, Petrojam officials have said.
General Manager of Petrojam, Winston Watson, said yesterday that the company
The inaugural Jamaica Observer Mogul in the Making start-up programme culminated with Glad Helpers, Jamaicansmusic.com and C & E Innovational Services walking away as the “Ones to Watch”.
The programme, which is aimed at highlighting young businesses that embody the spirit of entrepreneurship while making a positive economic impact, ended at the Courtleigh Auditorium late Wednesday evening.
Glad Helpers, a cleaning service that’s owned and operated by Angelic Barrett, was chosen as the Journalists’ Choice. Barrett, who said she started her business after being unable to get suitable help, received exceptional feedback from readers in addition to impressing all the journalists involved in the selection.
Jamaicansmusic.com, which provides songs ranging from ska to contemporary dancehall and also streams live artiste sessions, is the People’s Choice after getting more than 3,500 votes online. Alex Morrissey, its owner, was unable to attend the ceremony due to unavoidable travel off-island, but sent messages to his representative and manager, Jacquie Juceam, expressing his excitement and gratitude to the programme.
C & E Innovational Services, run by Erica Wynter, was selected as Judges’ Choice, for her “creative” and “relevant” mail delivery and small business assistance units. Wynter said she’s excited that her hard work and dedication have paid off and hopes others follow suit and pursue their dreams.
The event, which was attended by four hundred invited guests and others who wrote in for tickets, allowed the 21 nominees and audience members to pose questions to a panel of distinguished business leaders.
The panel included Tina Matalon, marketing director of Restaurants of Jamaica; Michele English, Flow’s president and CEO; Adam Stewart, deputy chairman & CEO of The Jamaica Observer; Patsy Latchman-Atterbury, Vice President of Scotiabank‘s Small & Medium Enterprises unit and Christopher Berry, chairman and CEO of Mayberry Investments.
Columbus Communications Jamaica Limited, through their brand, Columbus Business Solutions (CBS) and Scotiabank Jamaica, through Scotia Small Business, were the main sponsors of the event.
The three start-ups selected as “Ones to Watch” will receive complimentary one-year subscriptions to the Observer; a quarterly story in the paper and online about how their progress; mentoring, if needed, from the panel of experts; Quickbook 101 Financial Software from Scotiabank and a one-month package of digital landline and Business Class internet bundles from CBS.
Additionally, all nominees will get a year of discounted rates for print and web advertising contracts from The Observer, a workshop on “Technology for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises” from CBS and workshops on “Record Keeping and Customer Service” and “What bankers look for in an application” from Scotiabank;
The Mogul in the Making programme, which started in January, wants to fix the imbalance on the focus given to large enterprises and bring entrepreneurs from all over the island to celebrating their accomplishments and encourage others to be like them.
Shell gas operator, Cool Petroleum is pumping US$2 million (J$175 million) into capacity upgrade of its Rockfort Kingston facility but denies those plans include construction of a refinery despite getting state approval for such a facility.
The upgrade will allow Shell, with one of the largest