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Tag: net billing

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Alternative Energy Electricity Government News Renewable Energy

Energy Ministry Now Responsible For Net Billing, Wheeling

January 4, 2017

As of January 1, 2017 the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology took over responsibility for applications for net billing, electric power wheeling and auxiliary connections.

Information about the new arrangements, posted on the ministry website, comes after a period of uncertainty characterised by legislative changes, delays and temporary arrangements.

Minister of Science, Energy and Technology

Dr Andrew Wheatley announced in April 2016 that the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) would resume accepting applications on behalf of the ministry for net billing. This would be under similar terms as the previously concluded net billing pilot project, which ran for two years until May 2015. Up to that time, the ministry had received 351 applications for net billing, of which 311 were approved.

Net billing allows persons who produce electricity from renewable sources such as wind or solar to sell the excess to the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), thus offsetting the electricity consumed when they use power from the grid. The OUR was charged with the responsibility for continuing to accept applications until the details of a permanent programme were finalised.

Public education specialist at the OUR, Elizabeth Bennett Marsh, says that with changes to some aspects of the legislation, the responsibility for approving net billing was passed back to the ministry.

“There was a brief hiatus where we had stopped accepting because we said we really wanted to get everything clarified. The ministry subsequently asked the OUR to continue accepting applications. So we agreed to continue until they could sort it out, and now that it has been completed we handed over,” Bennett Marsh said.

According to the information on the ministry”s website, “All persons who are desirous of connecting to the Jamaica Public Service grid are required to obtain a licence from the minister with responsibility for energy. The Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, therefore, advises the public that, effective January 1, 2017, all applications for net billing, electric power wheeling and auxiliary connections are to be made directly to the ministry.”

READY TO DO ITS PART

The ministry declined to comment by telephone on the new requirement and did not respond to emailed questions up to press time.

JPS Director of Corporate Communications Winsome Callum said the light and power company was aware of the changes and stood ready to do its part in adding new systems to the grid.

“This new development came out of the review of the net billing process in 2015. It was decided that the ministry would start accepting applications as of January 2017.

“JPS will continue its role in facilitating the contracts and the commissioning of the systems. We will continue our efforts to ensure that the connections are made as seamlessly and as quickly as possible,” Callum said in a written response.

Gleaner

Alternative Energy Electricity Energy Saving Government News Solar Energy

Electricity net billing resumes April 11 — Energy ministry

April 10, 2016

Screen Shot 2016-04-11 at 00.32.57

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Customers of Jamaica Public Service (JPS) will again be able to apply for licences to sell their excess electricity generated from renewable energy sources to the grid as of April 11, 2016.

Minister of Science Energy & Technology (MSET) Dr Andrew Wheatley today announced that the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) will resume accepting applications on behalf of the ministry for net billing under similar terms as the previously-concluded net billing pilot project until the details of a permanent programme are finalised.

According to a release from the ministry, the decision to continue the programme came out of an agreement reached on April 7 with the OUR and JPS.

All parties agreed that it was in the best interest of all concerned that the net billing programme be resumed so as to strengthen the development of the renewable energy sector in accordance with the National Energy Policy, the release said.

The two-year pilot programme was extended to May 2015, as the system peak demand threshold for net billing was not met.  As at March 2015, 351 applications were received, 311 of which were granted licences, the ministry said.

Alternative Energy Government JPS News Solar Energy

Paulwell says net billing to resume, but solar energy providers still in limbo

February 1, 2016

Screen Shot 2016-02-01 at 10.24.56

Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell

ALMOST a year after net billing was suspended, there are indications that the programme is to resume, although Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell is yet to set a timeline.

He said recommendations have been made to the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) to resume processing licences. But, before that can happen, the Electricity Lighting Act must be amended and the Jamaica Solar Energy Association (SEA) raised concerns that nothing has been done to have the legislation amended.

At Wednesday’s national conference for the development of an energy services company industry in Jamaica, Paulwell said that the Government is committed to reopening net billing.

He, however, explained that while the law names the Energy Sector Enterprise Team (ESET) as the body responsible for regulating new generation capacity, it was felt that it (net billing) is not appropriately placed at ESET, and that the OUR is expected to resume processing net billing licences.

So far, more than 300 licences have been issued, but solar energy providers have not been able to interconnect to the JPS grid since May of last year.

David Barrett, president of SEA, says the association’s membership is still in a state of confusion.

“It’s static now (the sector) because people have no entity to get a licence from, they don’t know who to go to. Some persons have gone to the OUR or the JPS (Jamaica Public Service company) but they can’t do it because of the obvious reasons,” he told the Jamaica Observer last Thursday.

Over the months, entrepreneurs in the solar energy sector have complained bitterly of suffering millions in losses after the JPS stopped net billing to carry out an assessment of the pilot. The review was completed by the United States’ National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the report made public in June, but all grid interconnection for new net billing projects islandwide have still remained on hold.

Solar energy providers say the prolonged suspension has dealt their outfits a serious blow, arguing, too, that the JPS has too much power over the arrangement and that the Government needs to act decisively on the issue.

Barrett said the members are neither pleased with the pace of the process nor the new conditions that are being established.

“What has been decided is that the cap is to be five megawatts instead of 11 as it would have been in the previous phase, and that the cap for the individual locations will remain as they are. The association is not too happy about that because we feel that there is easy opportunity to increase potential for renewables in Jamaica without disturbing the grid in any way,” he told the Observer earlier this month.

Additionally, Barrett expressed disappointment that the association had not been invited to the table when the new cap was being set. “So we don’t have the information that fed into the decision-making process,” he stated.

Net billing permits JPS customers, who own renewable energy generators, to produce electricity for personal use and to sell excess energy to the light and power monopoly at wholesale prices, which are set by the OUR.

Jamaica Observer 

Alternative Energy Electricity News

High energy costs push NIC towards alternative power sources

December 15, 2015

As is the case with most local operations, the National Irrigation Commission (NIC) says energy eats up a large chunk of its operational expenses, with the State-run company spending close to $500 million on electricity in 2014/2015.

This accounted for 40 per cent of its operating costs, and already for this year, the commission’s electricity bill is at 47 per cent of operational costs. “So it is increasing as we bring on additional areas. Once there is a drought, then we have to increase the amount of pumping that is done in each of these districts. In some areas, for some months the electricity cost is greater than the revenue that we generate,” NIC Managing Director Mark Richards explained at yesterday’s

Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange.

The NIC provides irrigation services mainly to the agricultural sector, and to a lesser extent industrial and commercial operations in Yallahs, St Thomas; Rio Cobre and Colbeck in St Catherine; central clarendon; New Forest and Duff House, in Manchester; Braco, Trelawny; Hounslow and Beacon/Little Park, in St Elizabeth; and Seven Rivers in St James

“Our electricity cost is one of the significant challenges that we operate under. We are the second-biggest consumer and payee of the JPS. For the year so far up to October, we are at $330 million. So it’s a challenge [and]we are looking at different energy management strategies and engineering strategies [such as] retrofitting our pumps [and] scheduling of our flows in order to better match the service to deal with the demand,” Director of Technical Services Milton Henry explained.

Henry said the commission faces a peculiar challenge, as while energy prices are trending down, the NIC has to be ramping up its operations to satisfy increasing demand for irrigated water.

“Every system we bring on is contributing to our cost, and we have not been able to pass on those costs to our farmers; so as we partner with them, we are saying let us find some more efficient approaches. We have had quite a bit of success… we have grown our business at a time of major challenges and continue to do so,” Henry said, noting that the NIC’s customer base has doubled from 1,265 in 2006 to 2,349 in 2014.

The NIC has moved to cut down on energy costs by retrofitting 15 of its stations with energy-saving devices. It is also looking to solar and wind energy sources. “So far we did a wind study in Manchester with a view to putting in a five megawatt capacity which would meet a significant portion of our demand. The study has been completed and shows that it is feasible. We are expected to move to the next phase… with some urgency,” he said.

The NIC is also eagerly awaiting the resumption of net billing, which the JPS suspended in May to carry out a review of the two-year pilot programme. The assessment which was conducted by the United States’ National Renewable Energy Laboratory has been completed, but up to last month the energy ministry was not able to tell stakeholders in the solar energy sector exactly when the programme would resume.

Jamaica Observer

Alternative Energy Government News Solar Energy

Electricity tribunal trashes wheeling charges

February 6, 2015

OUR still deciding whether to appeal or redesign programme

Avia Collinder, Business Reporter

Jamaica’s electricity tribunal has effectively sent utilities regulator, OUR, back to the drawing board to redesign the pricing structure plan for the wheeling of power through Jamaica Public Service Company’s network.

The Office of Utilities Regulation has said it may appeal the ruling.

JPS had contested the wheeling prices set by the OUR as inadequate and in breach of its licence, and Chairman of the Electricity Appeals Tribunal, Justice Paul Harrison, issued a ruling in November 2014 that sided with the power utility. Justice Harrison described the pricing structure as ‘irrational and flawed’.

OUR had intended to introduce electricity wheeling in 2013, but the programme was put on hold after JPS’ legal challenge.

The regulatory agency said this week that it was still reviewing the tribunal’s decision but expected to wrap up the assessment by the end of March.

Essentially, JPS had argued that wheeling prices should be set around the same time as the rate determination for electricity charges – the latter was decided last month – having noted that the 2013 wheeling rates were based on stale data.

JPS also argued that the approved wheeling charges were in breach of Condition 12 of its licence, neither were they guided by the cost of service study (COSS) conducted by the power utility.

“We are still assessing the effect and implications of the ruling,” Ansord Hewitt, the OUR’s director of regulation, policy, monitoring and enforcement, told the Financial Gleaner.

The review will determine the regulator’s next step.

“If, for example, it decides to appeal the decision then the status quo remains,” said Hewitt. “On the other hand, if it decides not to appeal the next step is to direct JPS to do a cost of service study stipulating the framework for it. We will have another round of consultations, then determine a system including charges and, thereafter, implement,” he said.

Though a number of local com-panies have expressed interest in wheeling electricity, no applications have been made so far to the OUR.

As defined in the text of the Tribunal’s decision: “Wheeling is a method by which a grid operator, for a price, allows another party to send electrical energy over the grid operator’s transmission and distribution system, from a location at which the party generates the energy, to a location where it will be consumed.”

The wheeling regime was introduced in Jamaica by the amendment of Condition 12 of JPS’s licence in 2011.

To qualify for a wheeling licence, lasting 10 years, the applicant must be a self-generator with consumption facilities of 25kVA.

The OUR in 2013 determined annual wheeling rates at an average of US$105,312 per MW for primary distribution and US$53,545 for secondary distribution on a non-locational basis.

The regulator also estimated rates for 14 actual JPS customers at different locations across Jamaica, which ranged between US$83,100 per MW and US$629,900 per MW.

JPS argued on appeal that the wheeling charges were not consistent with the existing tariffs and price controls, in that the charges would not be revenue neutral to the utility. It also objected to the OUR’s use of a Modern Equivalent Asset Valuation model for setting wheeling rates, instead of actual costs, and argued that the structure created by OUR would result in tariffs that discriminate by location.

The Electricity Appeals Tribunal, after hearing from expert witnesses on both sides, ruled “the OUR acted unlawfully in producing its own COSS [cost of service study], albeit with some 2009 data from JPS, in breach of Condition 12 and therefore, in that respect, its determination is flawed”.

Harrison ruled that the OUR’s decision not to consider JPS’ COSS data, which was available to it in June 2013, a month before its wheeling determination, was “irrational”.

He further noted that the OUR, being a statutory authority with powers and functions conferred by law and the power utility’s licence, could not “arrogate to itself powers that are not conferred on it”, and that it had no common law powers nor a legal basis or authority to conduct its own COSS.

Additionally, the wheeling charges proposed by the regulator were “not consistent with tariffs and the price controls as approved by the OUR,” said Justice Harrison.

“… It was irrational for the OUR to issue the Determination Notice for the reason that it did. The said notice is accordingly flawed and irrational,” he said.

avia.collinder@gleanerjm.com

Jamaica Gleaner

News

Don Wehby of Grace Kennedy speaks out on solar incentives needed for Jamaica

November 5, 2010

Don Wehby, Guest Writer

Bill Clinton last week reinvigorated the public discourse on the use of renewable energy in Jamaica. Solar energy, of which Jamaica is in abundant supply, is particularly important if we are to diversify away from imported sources of energy and become energy self-sufficient.

While much has been said about solar electricity over the past few years, actual usage has been slow to spread because of the large initial investment required and the scarce availability of financial incentives.

It currently costs somewhere between J$2 million to J$3 million to fully equip a three-bedroom house with solar-generated power. This puts solar systems out of the reach of the majo-rity of Jamaican homeowners.

4kW Aerial Shot
4kW job in Kingston. Jamaica

Although the upfront expenditure is burdensome, solar panels have a lifespan of 25 years or more and a minimum battery life of seven years. They are built to withstand 125-mile-per-hour winds and will start losing power after about three days of overcast conditions.

The payback period for solar investments is typically 6-8 years and can be sooner, depending on rising fuel costs, taxes on electricity (currently 10 per cent GCT in Jamaica) and foreign-exchange movements.

Despite these benefits, there are few incentives to invest in solar technology in Jamaica.

Currently, solar systems – including panels, batteries and inverters – are exempt from GCT and import duties.

The National Housing Trust (NHT) also offers low-interest “solar panel loans” of up to J$1.5 million for individual applicants and J$3 million for co-applicants. The interest rate ranges from 1 per cent to 7 per cent, depending on your weekly income, with a repayment period of 15 years.

The NHT also offers a solar water heater loan of up to J$250,000 at 3 per cent for 5 years. These loan options should be more aggressively marketed so that more Jamaicans are aware of their existence.

On the commercial side, the National Export-Import Bank of Jamaica has implemented a special credit line for manufacturers and agro-processors to establish alternative- energy systems at relatively low interest rates.

While these incentives are commendable, they are not enough to fuel a solar energy revolution in Jamaica. In fact, Barbados is the leader in the Caribbean in terms of structuring incentives to drive renewable energy adoption.

Homeowners receive significant income tax deductions for investing in systems and equipment that make their homes more energy-efficient and/or generate electricity from renewable sources.

Along similar lines, I recommend that the following provisions be added to Jamaica’s income tax code to encourage solar energy adoption among both commercial and residential property owners:

An individual owner of residential property who spends, inter alia, on energy saving or water-saving devices be entitled to a maximum deduction from yearly taxable income of up to J$1,000,000.

Up to J$250,000 can be deducted for expenditure related to a home energy audit and the purchase of any conservation materials or systems recommended in that audit. A home energy audit is defined as an evaluation by an authorised energy auditor of the energy consumption in a household to determine ways in which energy can be conserved.

Up to J$750,000 can be deducted for expenditure on the purchase or installation of ‘environmentally preferred products’. ‘Environmentally preferred products’ means pro-ducts that cause significantly less harm to human health or to the environment than alternative pro-ducts that serve the same purpose; or products, the consumption of which contributes significantly to the preservation of the environment.

A tax policy for commercial enterprises should also be implemented based on the following guidelines:

Up to 30 per cent of the capital cost of investing in renewable energy technologies can be deducted from profit before tax, with a maximum claim of J$20 million; and

Accelerated depreciation on qualifying environmentally preferred assets – for example, depreciation of up to 50 per cent of the asset in one year.

These tax incentives will drive adoption of solar technology at both the residential and commercial levels, helping to move Jamaica towards becoming self-sufficient in energy.

NET METERING HAS A ROLE

Finally, we need to reach a consensus with the domestic power company on the issue of net metering.

Net metering allows an electricity customer’s meter to run backwards if the electricity he or she generates is greater than that consumed, effectively banking the electricity until it is needed by the customer.

This provides the customer with full retail value for all the electricity produced and is used in more than 30 states in the US and widely throughout Europe.

Under Jamaica’s proposed net billing policy, an additional meter will have to be installed at the customer’s expense, and a much lower ‘avoided cost’ value is placed on surplus electricity despite it being generated in a more environmentally sustainable way. This is a financial disincentive.

Net metering will make the payback period on deploying solar technology shorter and is a matter of priority if we are truly serious about energy self-sufficiency.

At approximately J$25 per kWh of electricity, Jamaica’s energy costs are among the most expensive in the world – with adverse effects on our standard of living and productive capacity.

Let us use the reinvigorated public discussion to effect real change in how we incentivise renewable energy use.

Don Wehby is group COO of GraceKennedy Limited.

don.wehby@gkco.com

Jamaica Gleaner

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