Below is the Jamaica Gleaner article that came out on Feb 3rd that stated many of Jamaica’s leading
THE Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has said it has found no evidence that the meters installed by light and power company the Jamaica Public Service Limited are in any way inaccurate.
Speaking at a press conference this morning to provide an update on the findings of the probe which was launched at the end of August following widespread public outcry over escalating bills, former Director General of the OUR and lead investigator into the JPS billing system, JP Morgan, said as far as the investigation is concerned the “public can have every confidence” that the new meters are not the source of their problems.
Morgan also pointed out that the investigators unearthed areas of major weaknesses and recommended that they needed to be addressed by the utility company.
Speculations had been that the new meters were the reason for the recent spike in billing costs that customers are experiencing.
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MINISTER of Energy and Mining Clive Mullings has called on the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) to immediately cease the installation of so-called smart meters and the policy of back-billing customers based on allegations of meter-tampering, until an investigation being conducted by the Office of Utilities Regulations (OUR) is completed.
As we are now back with our new company Solar Buzz Jamaica we look forward to again keeping you updated with the most current energy articles relating to Jamaica. Since we last left unfortunately not much has changed. Electricity has gone up, the JPS monopoly is still in place (now back by government), net metering/net billing is still not in place and businesses are not getting any help with high costs of energy bills. Not to mention government did not renew certain
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The Government’s plan to introduce liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been engulfed in even more controversy in the wake of a damning November 2010 report by a World Bank-recommended team of consultants.
While the consultants acknowledged that LNG was the right choice for the nation over coal, they have suggested to the Bruce Golding administration that it should put its plan on hold until the middle of this year while the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) presents a new regulatory framework.
However, the local LNG team is adamant that it is on the correct course and the energy ministry yesterday argued that while some of the changes recommended by the consultants should be implemented, others are to be discarded as they were not sufficiently informed and did not capture all the information gained by the local officials.
With the LNG project now being driven from the Office of the Prime Minister, the team from the energy ministry has sought to convince Golding that it has so far been heading in the right direction.
“That (consultants) assessment report raised several valid questions of the project, for which comprehensive answers were provided,” Energy Minister James Robertson said in a release yesterday.
“Further yet; audits, operational reports and reviews from respected local and international consultants on a sustained basis, inclusive of taking on board the opinions of our independent development partners, continue to be undertaken,” Robertson added.
The energy minister did not release the report of the consultants but The Gleaner has obtained an extensive response provided by the local LNG team, which operated out of the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica and the energy ministry.
While dealing extensively with many of the concerns raised by the consultants, the local team did not comment on fears about the financial viability of Exmar Consortium, which has already been selected for a lead role in the project.
Parallel moves a must
However, the local team was strident as it dismissed the consul-tants’ call for the project to be placed on hold.
The local team argued that the development of a regulatory framework and the implementation of final rules must be done in parallel with the ongoing efforts to identify the offtakers, develop the commercial framework and land LNG.
The team also scoffed at the claims by the consultants that there was ambiguity and uncertainties surrounding several aspects of the project which could make it a financial disaster for the Government.
According to the consultants, a focused economic and financial feasibility study must be completed quickly before a final design specification for the Floating Storage and Regasification Unit and pipeline system.
But the local team argued that the pipeline would be fully regulated by the OUR while the other areas are being addressed.
The local team was most dismissive of the consultants’ claim that the Government could be exposed to great financial risk for future gas purchase.
This the consultants linked to the failure of the Government to obtain a letter of intent to purchase from the bauxite company Jamalco and its inability to obtain a purchase commitment from the Jamaica Public Service Company.
“This statement is incorrect. The Government of Jamaica will have no financial responsibility for gas purchases,” stated the local LNG team in a retort.
According to the local team, while it remains optimistic that Jamalco will participate in phase one of the LNG project, even without Jamalco, the threshold volume would be sufficient to support the venture.
Christopher Zacca, the head of the government team leading the LNG project, has so far refused to comment on the individual concerns raised by the consultants.
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The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has invited bids from twenty-eight local and international companies, including the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS), to supply 480 megawatts of new generating capacity.
This is the largest block of generating capacity ever sought by the OUR and it’s intended to: allow for the displacement of old and inefficient generating plants; provide for growth in demand and improve the efficiency of the overall electricity generation system.
The installation of the new generating capacity is scheduled to be carried out in two phases. The first 360 megawatts is scheduled to be installed by 2014 while the remaining 120 megawatts is to be installed by 2016.
The Request for Proposals (RFPs) seeks to achieve the goals of ensuring that Jamaica improves its energy efficiency in generation, contribute to fuel diversification which will impact energy security and most importantly, positively impact the affordability of electricity. The request coincides with the initiative taken by the Government to introduce natural gas as the fuel of choice for electricity generation and for the mining sector as outlined in the 2009 – 2030 National Energy Policy.
The RFP was issued on September 30, 2010 and bids are to be submitted no later than January 7, 2011 in keeping with the schedule outlined in the bid document.
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This article was written in 2008 and we are still waiting on a resolution for net billing or net metering in Jamaica.
Kingston, Jamaica — (METERING.COM) — July 8, 2008
Energy ministry officials yesterday said that policies that will give private entities access to Jamaica Public Service Company’s (JPS’) distribution lines to provide its own electricity at several sites across the island, among other energy related issues, will be comprehensively addressed by September.
Senior energy engineer in the Ministry of Mining and Energy, Fitzroy Vidal told the Business Observer at the Observer headquarters in Kingston that ‘wheeling’, which concerns the development of terms and conditions that would allow a private entity to provide its own electricity at multiple geographical locations transiting JPS’ network, was currently supported but pricing still remains an issue.
“There is nothing which precludes anybody at the moment from wheeling power. The policy supports it right now,” he told journalists. “The issue is the price or the rate… we are addressing several policies now which by September would have comprehesively addressed all of these issues. In the same way we use these policies to deal with the Wigton rates. It is the electricity policy that will address wheeling and the regulatory environmnent and pricing.”
Energy Minister, James Robertson, said he viewed wheeling as an opportunity to encourage the use of renewable energy.
“All these policies will be harmonised to make sure thare are no policy conflicts,” added Vidal.
THE Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) had set its sight on a June date to make a determination on a new regulatory mechanism that facilitate wheeling in its its corporate plan for the next three years — currently available on the regulator’s website for public comment — the OUR said it would “conduct public consultations and issue a Determination on ‘wheeling’, by June 2010”.
“(Wheeling) concerns the development of terms and conditions that would allow a private entity to provide its own electricity at multiple geographical locations transiting JPS’ network, a scenario that is contemplated by Condition 2 clauses 11 and 12 of the JPS All Island Electricity Licence,” said the regulator.
The OUR said it was responding to “interest among private entities to self-generate electricity for supplies at disparate geographical locations”, adding that the process could “only be facilitated if there is in place some kind of wheeling arrangement with JPS”.
Robertson noted that the section of the policy was being tailored to accommodate the National Water Commission, the state-run utility company that is among the largest users of electricity and which would have scores of pumping houses across the island.