MONTEGO BAY, St James
Mr. Paulwell said…
October 16, 2005
says he hopes to introduce net metering in Jamaica by the end of next month
“I’ve instructed the OUR (Office of Utilities Regulation) to finalise a
policy framework for net metering,” Sunday Observer.
– to date, no net metering
August 19, 2011
Amended and Restated All-Island Electric License 2011
Electricity Power Wheeling
Net Billing
October 19, 2012 Paulwell Blames JPS For Power-Wheeling Delay
– to date, no wheeling
February 12, 2012
has announced plans to set up a bipartisan energy council tasked with
achieving up to 62 per cent reduction in energy costs paid by households and
businesses – in 3 years
– to date, no reduction, no plans, no announcements
May 01, 2012
Net Billing
pilot programme limited to 2 years commencing no later than May 01, 2012 and
capped at an aggregate capacity of 2% of JPS
Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell (left), speaks with President of the
Phillip Paulwell, minister of science, technology, energy and mining. – FILE
Energy minister Philip Paulwell yesterday announced a counterintuitive measure that will delay the vetting of new power plant proposals in order to fast-track their approval.
The electricity regulator Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) will now advise Paulwell on the acceptance or rejection of proposals by March 30 instead of the original month-end deadline.
The extension saves these projects from a lengthy retendering which could last years. Such a delay would stall plans to slash the island’s high energy costs while threatening future blackouts.
“I have enabled them with a further period of time to the end of March to do their contemplation. They have received from JPS (Jamaica Public Service Company), and others, new proposals and they wish to study them carefully because the OUR and myself agree that time is of the essence, and we do not want to lose any more time – because the decision has to be taken now,” said Paulwell on Tuesday at the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce forum on energy in Kingston.
“And rather than start the whole process again, once there is a prospect of pursuing a path of lower electricity prices, we want to implement it quickly,” he said.
JPS, the monopoly power distributor, submitted a proposal that incorporates an undisclosed fuel source as an alternative to its 360-megawatt natural gas plant, but the OUR requests additional information.
Approving these plants would usually result in public procurement of a fuel supplier which could take months or years. Paulwell would obviate this process via parliamentary approval.
“You could treat a proposal as an unsolicited offer, at which time, the Government can sign off on it and forego the need for procurement,” he explained.
The OUR will allow JPS until Friday, March 15 to submit details of an alternative proposal for provision of electricity-generation capacity. This was in response to a letter, containing a broad summary of its latest offer, sent on Thursday, January 31 by the JPS.
“The JPS and its stakeholders had missed its deadline of Wednesday, January 30 to complete the requirements under the request for proposal (RFP) for the 360MW project, and so the alternate proposal could not have been considered within the context of the RFP,” said the OUR in a media release on Tuesday.
The OUR said several other companies have expressed interest since the termination of the RFP process. Those companies also have until March 15 to “concretise” unsolicited submissions into firm proposals.
The OUR release stated that JPS missed another deadline granted to facilitate the provision of project details, including pricing and supplier.
“This was the third extension granted by the OUR to JPS … . They were given until January 30, 2013 to complete the outstanding matters relating to the bid,” said OUR.
In late 2011, JPS was awarded the right to construct a 360MW plant, which followed the issuance of an RFP from the OUR. The plant was supposed to be the largest of a planned 480MW programme.
The 360MW would have replaced old power plants with units fired by cheaper fuel, and add new capacity to the grid to maintain pace with the national energy demand.
steven.jackson@gleanerjm.com
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Phillip Paulwell
Daraine Luton,
As you read this, Phillip Paulwell, Jamaica’s energy minister, is likely playing Mas in Trinidad at its annual carnival. Jamaicans may be minded to say that he is playing something else.
People here are also likely to conclude that the energy minister’s sojourn to Trinidad, and whatever he may be getting up to in Port-of-Spain, San Fernando, Arima, Diego Martin, or wherever, also says something about Mr Paulwell’s sense for priorities. That is a matter on which we would like to hear the view of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller.
First, though, we must make clear that this newspaper does not begrudge Mr Paulwell, or anyone else, his right to annual holidays. Nor would we normally care should any Jamaican decide to jet off to Port-of-Spain to join a carnival band, swig rum and dance up a storm at the Savannah. Which, of course, is not a claim we make of Mr Paulwell, not withstanding our unease at his absence from Jamaica at this time.
Here is the context. Jamaica faces not merely a crisis, but an energy emergency. Our sense, though, is that no one in the Government, including the portfolio minister, seems to grasp either the depth or the immediacy of the problem – at least not sufficiently for it to impinge on the bacchanal.
In Trinidad and Tobago, where the music of ‘Despas’, Destra, Machel and others may be echoing in Mr Paulwell’s head, firms pay around US$0.05 per kilowatt-hour for electricity. The Trinidadians have oil and gas and enjoy government subsidies on their power bill.
In energy-deficient Jamaica, we pay upwards of US$0.41 per kilowatt-hour for electricity, which is a significant input in production and a high price which helps to make Jamaican firms uncompetitive. Indeed, over the past decade and a half, several plants that built things in Jamaica have migrated in favour of Trinidad, with which we run a trade deficit of nearly US$1 billion.
ENERGY WAFFLE
For more than a decade, Jamaican administrations have waffled and procrastinated over an energy policy to deliver cheaper electricity prices. Recently, under Mr Paulwell’s watch, there has been the final slow-motion collapse of a project that was to make liquefied natural gas (LNG) as the fuel of choice and to deliver electricity at between a 33 and 40 per cent below current prices.
Last week, for instance, the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) rescinded the Jamaica Public Service Company’s (JPS) position as the preferred bidder on a 360-megawatt, gas-fired power plant because the light and power company missed deadlines to demonstrate that it could meet the benchmark price. The problem is that JPS, having assumed the effort to source the fuel after the Government backed out, has been unable to find LNG cheap enough for the project to make sense at the target price.
Minister Paulwell claimed to have been blindsided by the OUR actions, suggesting that he was in favour of giving JPS additional time, without the continued financial burden of a performance bond, to rescue the deal. The upshot has been a state of confusion, in the Government and elsewhere, over energy. The situation is in need of a steady and steadying hand.
In the midst of this situation, Mr Paulwell chose carnival – the kind of stuff that would make Les Green‘s day.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.
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Petrojam