KINGSTON, Jamaica –
KINGSTON, Jamaica –
The Jamaica Public Service has connected its first official net–billing customer to the grid.
The customer, Gordon Lawrence of a Corporate Area address, was officially commissioned after rigorous preparation and testing of the solar system at his home, supplied and installed by Alternative Power Sources.
Any excess energy from the solar system, not used by Lawrence, will be sold to JPS.
Lawrence was one of 11 JPS customers who received net-billing licences from Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell earlier this year. Net-billing customers will be paid the avoided cost of generation for the electricity JPS purchases, as well as up to a 15 per cent premium on that price.
JPS President and CEO Kelly Tomblin, in commenting on the landmark event, noted that the company was pleased to fulfil its mandate to accommodate customers on the grid, as part of the development of the new energy landscape in the island.
Nothing new
For his part, Lawrence said he was not new to generating his own power supply as he installed his system four years ago.
He said the process of getting on to the JPS grid – from application, to obtaining a licence, to dealing with the Office of Utilities Regulation, JPS, Alternative Power Sources and the government electrical inspector – was relatively smooth.
“The system is superior to that of a standby generator, as the changeover is seamless and silent,” he added. “It is also better than a generator in terms of cost as generators require fuel after purchase of the equipment.”
Lawrence’s current system produces roughly 10 to 15 kWh per day on average, with the surprise being that the so-called winter months from October to February have proven to be the most efficient months in terms of energy output.
JPS project manager for net billing, Volton Campbell, also recognised the advantage of Lawrence’s system.
“Unlike some solar systems that will not operate once there is no sunlight, Mr Lawrence’s system can operate when it’s cloudy, as well as at night,” Campbell said. “This is because his system also has backup batteries which are charged by the solar system.”
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Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell – File photo
Jerome Reynolds, Gleaner Writer
Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell has ordered the Board of Directors of Petrojam Limited to undertake a probe into last week’s release of noxious fumes from the refinery, the second time in five months.
Last Wednesday, a number of people in the vicinity of the Spanish Town and Hagley Park and Molynes roads in St Andrew, complained about feeling ill as a result of the fumes.
Petrojam has written to the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) indicating that during site clean-up operations, the liquid contents of a five-gallon plastic pail were released on to the ground.
The energy minister has expressed grave concern about what he says is the safety and security practices at Petrojam, noting that is the second time in six months that noxious fumes have been released from the refinery.
Paulwell says he is also concern Petrojam did not make a full report of last week
Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell
Power provider Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) currently passes on to its consumers 17 per cent of the costs of its inefficiencies – including illegal extraction of power – valued at billions of dollars, says Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell.
But the Government is determined to have those inefficiencies, including heat losses, decreased even before the liquefied natural gas plant to be constructed by the JPS at Old Harbour, St Catherine becomes operational in two years or so.
“Currently, the JPS passes on 17 per cent of its inefficiency to all of us,” said Paulwell, the minister of science, technology, energy and mining.
“Some of that inefficiency is as a result of theft and we have to solve that problem. There are some discussions now taking place to deal with that,” said the minister addressing an executive breakfast meeting organised by First Global Bank at the GraceKennedy headquarters in Kingston on Friday.
“We believe that there is more that can be done about theft, and when we looked at the data it is not only downtown or my constituency (of East Kingston and Port Royal). We see some substantial numbers uptown and it is not fair. It is immoral for us to be paying for that.”
mcpherse.thompson@gleanerjm.com
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Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell – File photo
Jerome Reynolds, Gleaner Writer
The Portia Simpson Miller-led Cabinet is today expected to discuss the government
Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell – File photo
Jerome Reynolds, Gleaner Writer
The Portia Simpson Miller-led Cabinet is today expected to discuss the government
Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell – File photo
Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter
The Cabinet will on Monday consider whether it will continue its appeal of the court ruling against the monopoly licence for electricity transmission and distribution granted to the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS).
The parliamentary opposition has said Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell should resign given that the appeal contradicts his previous statements that he is in support of an end to the monopoly.
But Paulwell says the Government has not made a decision to appeal the ruling.
He said the attorney general went ahead and filed the application because the time within which to do so was running out.
This means if the Cabinet decides against pursuing the appeal, the application would be withdrawn.
Under the court rules, unsuccessful parties have 42 days from the handing down of a judgment in the Supreme Court within which to file an appeal.
The Supreme Court handed down its ruling in the JPS class action suit on July 30.
Asked why the Government did not make a decision earlier about whether it would appeal, Paulwell said the matter had not arisen because of several pressing issues.
Meanwhile, the energy minister insists that his utterances on the matter since the Supreme Court ruling have been careful.
He adds that he and the Cabinet are on the same page regarding promoting competition in the transmission and distribution of electricity.
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Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell – File photo
Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter
The Cabinet will on Monday consider whether it will continue its appeal of the court ruling against the monopoly licence for electricity transmission and distribution granted to the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS).
The parliamentary opposition has said Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell should resign given that the appeal contradicts his previous statements that he is in support of an end to the monopoly.
But Paulwell says the Government has not made a decision to appeal the ruling.
He said the attorney general went ahead and filed the application because the time within which to do so was running out.
This means if the Cabinet decides against pursuing the appeal, the application would be withdrawn.
Under the court rules, unsuccessful parties have 42 days from the handing down of a judgment in the Supreme Court within which to file an appeal.
The Supreme Court handed down its ruling in the JPS class action suit on July 30.
Asked why the Government did not make a decision earlier about whether it would appeal, Paulwell said the matter had not arisen because of several pressing issues.
Meanwhile, the energy minister insists that his utterances on the matter since the Supreme Court ruling have been careful.
He adds that he and the Cabinet are on the same page regarding promoting competition in the transmission and distribution of electricity.
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Paulwell
THE EDITOR, Sir:
I wish to congratulate Claude Clarke on his recent article headlined ‘Could Paulwell’s plan light the path to recovery?’
This is the best article written to date in connection with our cost of energy problem. I doubt if electricity rates can be reduced to 15 US cents per kilowatt-hour in the near future but do know that the current design engines working on heavy fuel oil (HFO), if installed, would be 35 per cent cheaper to generate electricity than what is currently being generated at Hunts Bay or Old Harbour Bay stations. Even if LNG is not immediately available it would be a start to the reduction of rates.
The modern day engines are dual fuel and can be shipped within 12 months. They can operate on HFO and be switched to LNG (without extra cost) whenever it comes.
The modern dual fuel engines operating on HFO carry a heat rate of under 8,000. The JPS plants at Hunts Bay and Old Harbour Bay go as high as 12,200. If energy fuel were liberalised two years ago we would now have been able to sell it at a lower cost to the consumer.
Welcome news
I believe that the statement made in Parliament recently by Phillip Paulwell is welcome news for the energy sector and he should be congratulated. Now that the announcement has been made, how do we proceed?
I do not believe that breaking the monopoly on transmission and distribution should be a priority but more effort should be put towards reducing the base load cost as quickly as possible.
D
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