Oil
The government has signed a deal with Canadian oil and gas exploration company, Fagres, to begin the process of drilling for oil in Jamaica come next year.
ELEVEN PERSONS yesterday collected the first batch of net billing licences offered by the Government that will allow them to sell the excess electricity they generate to the national grid.
Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell, who handed out the licences, said having installed a solar-energy system at his home, he intended to apply to his ministry for a licence.
“My PV (photovoltaic) system is fully up and running and I am now anticipating my JPS (Jamaica Public Service Company) bill later this month,” said Paulwell, who was speaking at a meeting of the Jamaica Energy Council held at Jamaica House yesterday.
Under the net billing system, licensees are expected to see huge reductions in their electricity bills after balancing the amount owed for energy used and what is earned from the excess energy sold to the grid.
“The bill from JPS is netted against the bill from the production and at the end of the month, the net bill to the customer,” explained Hopeton Heron, deputy director general at the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR).
“At the end of three months, you will see whether you owe JPS or JPS owes you and a cheque is cut somewhere to settle the matter,” he added.
The system will be governed by a five-year standard offer contract that each licensee is required to sign.
Addressing concerns about the impact of adding new facilities to the grid, Heron said for the next two months, the OUR will be conducting a pilot project that will limit the new connections to two per cent of the existing capacity.
Paulwell said he hoped this would encourage more Jamaicans to come forward and apply for licences as “the Government looks to enlarge its ambition in relation to renewable energy“.
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Threatens sale of utility to new investors
Energy minister Phillip Paulwell says that Govern-ment can, as a last option, sell Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) to new investors rather than allow the utility to maintain its “monopolistic arrogance”.
Paulwell did not say how Jamaica would force the sale of the power company, which would likely require its takeover if its owners are hostile to the plan, given the Government’s minority 19.9 per cent holdings.
“There are serious players coming to us and any implied threat can be responded to,” Paulwell said midweek.
Its the latest tit-for-tat surrounding the push to end JPS’ monopoly on power distribution, and follows comment by JPS CEO Kelly Tomblin Tuesday that Jamaica would likely have to buy out the majority owners of the utility if it wanted to pursue liberalisation.
JPS’ current exclusive licence has another 16-year run to 2027.
“I don’t believe that Government has to buy it back,” he said, in response to Tomblin’s assertion.
“People are salivating to take part in the energy sector. The Government won’t go there, but players are salivating to get into the market”.
JPS is owned 40 per cent by Marubeni Corporation, 40 per cent by Korea East-West Power and 19.9 per cent by the Government of Jamaica. The other 0.1 per cent is held by individuals.
The cash-strapped Government has little capacity to buy out Marubeni and East-West Power’s stake in JPS. The utility is one of the largest companies in Jamaica, with total assets valuing US$1.05 billion (J$91 billion), and a net worth of US$371 million (J$32 billion) as at December 2011.
Private negotiations
Paulwell told the
Plans for the liberalisation of
THE Office of Utilities Regulations (OUR) has so far received 10 applications for licences from producers of electricity from renewable sources to engage in net billing thus paving the way for them to be paid for selling power to the national grid, energy minister Phillip Paulwell said last week.
Paulwell said the entities would be visited by the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) this week for the installation of new meters to measure the energy going to the grid, after which the OUR would recommend to him those which are to get licences in about two weeks.
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PAULWELL
Small and large businesses are lauding the success of this year’s biannual Expo Jamaica, which ran from April 26-29. Organised by the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association (JMA) and the Jamaica Exporters’ Association (JEA), in collaboration with JAMPRO, the four-day event was staged at the National Arena in St Andrew under the theme ‘Brand Jamaica’. Hundreds of people turned out to view the offerings from the 200 companies showcasing more than 2,000 products. First-timer to the expo, Solar Buzz Jamaica, won the award for Best Use of Technology in a Booth. Chief Executive Officer Jason Robinson said they were quite happy with the response to their offerings on services and products to reduce and conserve energy. “It really gave us a lot of exposure. In fact, as we speak, I’m just leaving the Ministry of Energy, which invited us to display the exact same expo booth set-up at the EEC (Energy Efficiency and Conservation) presentation today (yesterday) with Minister (Phillip) Paulwell,” said Robinson. Robinson said since the expo ended on Sunday, they have been busy honouring commitments to clients, who had paid or signed up for energy assessments, as well as filling orders for residential and commercial clients for solar products. Related articles
Hillary Alexander (right), permanent secretary in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, shares a joke with Richard Brewster (left), project manager of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Programme, and Professor Ishenkumba Kahwa, dean of the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences at the University of the West Indies, Mona, during the launch of the programme at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston yesterday. – Ian Allen/Photographer
Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Minister Phillip Paulwell has warned that government agencies and ministries that do not cut their energy bills will feel it in their pockets. “With your current consumption as your benchmark, please be advised that starting today, your energy cost must only go down. If you increase consumption, … you can expect a negative impact on your overall budgetary allocation,” he said, quickly adding that he was speaking with the firm authority of the finance minister. Paulwell was addressing the launch of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Programme, which is the end product of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Technical Assistance (EECTA) agreement first signed in 2009 between the Government and the Inter-American Development Bank. The programme has a total cost of US$20 million and seeks to reduce energy consumption in the public sector. Paulwell reeled off staggering figures of Jamaica’s energy crisis. “Some 90 per cent of Jamaica’s energy is supplied by imported petroleum. Next to debt servicing, energy consumes the largest amount of our foreign-exchange earnings,” he said. Among other data, the EECTA collected analysis of government facilities’ energy consumption and conservation measures. An audit of Jamaica’s energy situation showed the Government used more than 411 gigawatt hours annually, more than 10 per cent of total electricity consumed in Jamaica. Significant increase “The total GOJ bill for electricity has moved from about J$560 million in January 2009 to the current figure of nearly J$1.2 billion at February 2012. That’s an increase of more than half a billion dollars or some 108 per cent. This increase is annualised at J$7.2 billion. This … spells crisis,” he said. He implored heads of agencies, ministries and other public-sector institutions to examine the findings of the audit report and to determine their next step. He noted the Government had access to the electricity bills of every government agency and would be monitoring usage. He challenged ministers and permanent secretaries, especially, to develop and implement an energy-efficiency road map and to set targets for their energy consumption. “Each year, central government will issue an energy allocation, and just as there is pressure to stay within the Budget, we will apply pressure to have all of the ministries stay within the energy allocation.” Improving efficiency Paulwell noted that the programme would specifically deal with replacing incandescent bulbs and fluorescent lighting systems with LED fittings, and improving the insulation and seeding of building envelopes to reduce heat loading and air-conditioning requirements. There will also be the replacement of old air-conditioning systems for more modern, efficient ones. “(We will also be) implementing a system for monitoring and evaluating to ensure the sustainability of the initiative and to identify and train, within all our ministries, teams of energy wardens … to oversee the gains of the programme and that the gains are achieved.” Another component of the programme is an education-awareness initiative to sensitise the public and private sectors regarding energy efficiency (EE) and energy conservation (EC) cost and benefits. There will also be workshops and seminars for stakeholders on EE and EC procurement and management. Paulwell also noted that apart from the savings to the country’s energy bill, the programme would also provide jobs. “This programme will employ energy auditors, engineers, architects, as well as suppliers of air conditioning and energy-efficient fixtures to install over 5,000 air-conditioning units islandwide and over 100,000 lighting fixtures. This is sure to have a ripple effect on the entire economy.”
The continued rise in the cost of oil on the international market has triggered increases in the cost of locally produced energy, which has had a negative |