Paulwell
Daraine Luton,
Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining (STEM), Hon. Phillip Paulwell
Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining (STEM), Hon. Phillip Paulwell, is urging small and medium sized enterprises to take advantage of the energy management loan facility being offered by the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ).
The DBJ/PetroCaribe (SMEs) Energy Fund allows SMEs to access loans of up to $30 million at a rate of 7.5 per cent to retrofit their operations to accommodate energy efficiency, energy conservation and alternative energy sources.
Under the programme, business operators across all sectors of the economy are encouraged to refurbish their facilities with renewable energy solutions, such assolar water heaters and solar panels, in an effort to effectively manage and conserve energy in their day-to-day operations.
However, speaking at the DBJ
Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell says the government will be moving to adjust the rates private individuals are paid for electricity they sell to the grid.
At present the Jamaica Public Service Company, JPS buys electricity for 10-U.S. cents per kilowatt hour but charges consumers 40-U.S. cents per hour.
The minister did not say how and when the rate adjustment will be made.
Mr Paulwell also says the government’s energy bill will be reduced shortly after changes to several thousand air conditioning units and light bulbs.
Mr Paulwell told an energy fair today that 5-thousand A.C. units and one hundred thousand bulbs will be changed in several government buildings.
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SOMETHING is drastically wrong with this country.
We have been informed by the best of our scientific minds that close to half of us are mentally unstable and yet we have never considered that among that 50 per cent may be politicians.
|
PAULWELL… leading light to draw the PNP into new 21st century |
We seem to be people who mean well, but somehow don’t want to do well.
In the time of the last administration, a lot of noise was made about transforming energy from expensive oil-burning to the interim stage of LNG. It wasn’t exactly earth-shattering, but it indicated that we were on the right track towards making our country more competitive in the region and giving our people a chance to make their lives more meaningful.
As the talk of moving to liquid natural gas (LNG) gained momentum, so it seemed did the savvy of those who made up the last JLP administration. First, the Office of the Contractor General pushed its way to the front and the JLP Government wilted as the people rejoiced. As one listened to “the people” it must have seemed that there were many scallywags stalking the halls of JLP party central.
An election was later held and the JLP was soundly rejected.
Close to one year later, the only sound voice in the present PNP administration seems to be that of PNP minister, Phillip Paulwell.
We have all accepted the fact that if we do not configure our energy-producing sector to move away from heavy oil-burning, we will remain in the backwoods forever. That we know. In the last JLP administration, one which made its name through making Jamaicans even more distrustful of politicians than they were before, once the matter of LNG arose, all eyes lit up!
Too many people were making too much money, we thought. And even if we did have the full picture in our minds, it must have meant that we the people were being shafted. Or so we imagined.
In the end, a weak JLP administration bowed to the dictates of political and public pressure and the entity that had won the concession for introducing LNG to Jamaica, Exmar, and its local connection were scuttled.
The PNP rejoiced.
With a PNP administration that is close to one year old and is generally suffering from “old-age” in so short a time, there have been a few areas which have attracted my attention, and it seems the attention of the general public, if word at street level still has any credence. I speak, of course, of the energy ministry.
First, there have been the efforts in levelling the playing field in the mobile phone market. Somehow that seems to be on the reverse as one big telecoms player has been playing grand games with the public. Second, a convenient and totally indiscriminating public has bought the idea that that particular telecoms entity is deeply in love with them.
That said, Minister Paulwell’s strident efforts to bring about a lowering of the energy bill to ALL in this country must be lauded.
First, there was the thought among many that the LNG project was going to be government-driven and run by a historically proved inefficient government, especially one dominated by the PNP, an administration that has a history of being anti-business and too socialist-oriented. Second, as the world turns, and especially in Jamaica, corruption was the big bugbear.
The present arrangement which takes the LNG supply project totally out of the hands of government, once it had reached the stage of deciding the directions of the energy policy of the country is, to me, the best compromise. It is not the perfect one, the one that I would have preferred – that of reverting to awarding the LNG bid to Exmar and its local partners. To me, however, Minister Paulwell has committed his ministry and government to the JPS lowering energy rates by 50 per cent by the year 2015, a time when the people of this country will still have the chance to make a decision on the direction of his government.
Let us face it – there is not much that the Portia Simpson Miller administration can feed to the people as pap at this time. It won the 2011 elections on wild and reckless promises and mostly on the fact that it placed the populist PM Simpson Miller out front to play her song-and-dance routine to the people. Since the win, her song has died and her dance has failed to move us, but in the bleachers, the political watchers know that the Opposition JLP has a next-to-impossible chance of regaining all that was lost and given away by the abysmal and indecisive leadership of Bruce Golding.
Seaga was dead right!
The IMF analysis of economic trends for the next five to 10 years makes for bleak reading. Jamaica has lived most of its post-independence life as a mendicant nation where our prime ministers earn their kudos and clout at the polls for selling to the people their potential for borrowing the most. To a people of low-information voters and aggressive businessmen who are always seeing in such an arrangement an opportunity to make an extra buck, that simply feeds into the idea that government in this country must not be a facilitator as much as it ought to be a feeding tree.
The people rely on this, especially whenever a PNP administration is in power, and big businesses know that as much as they hate to do business during a PNP administration, if they want to survive, the ball has to be kicked back and forth. Again, Seaga was right.
In an administration filled with too many old socialists, Phillip Paulwell is a leading light in the effort to draw the PNP into the new 21st century. Finance Minister Peter Phillips has long shucked off his socialist leanings as the rigours of the current economic climate present themselves to him in a most unkind light.
He has to face the harsh reality of an IMF programme in danger of being derailed by the historical politics of the PNP. The negotiations need the full cooperation of all inputs from the various ministries such as the energy and commerce ministries.
We all know that the prime minister is out to lunch, so not much can be expected there more than a tip to the poor waitress, a hug and a kiss. Poor “she”.
Keep doing your thing, Minister Paulwell. Who knows, maybe even the most inflexible leader can be brought fully into the 21st century.
SOMETHING is drastically wrong with this country.
We have been informed by the best of our scientific minds that close to half of us are mentally unstable and yet we have never considered that among that 50 per cent may be politicians.
|
PAULWELL… leading light to draw the PNP into new 21st century |
We seem to be people who mean well, but somehow don’t want to do well.
In the time of the last administration, a lot of noise was made about transforming energy from expensive oil-burning to the interim stage of LNG. It wasn’t exactly earth-shattering, but it indicated that we were on the right track towards making our country more competitive in the region and giving our people a chance to make their lives more meaningful.
As the talk of moving to liquid natural gas (LNG) gained momentum, so it seemed did the savvy of those who made up the last JLP administration. First, the Office of the Contractor General pushed its way to the front and the JLP Government wilted as the people rejoiced. As one listened to “the people” it must have seemed that there were many scallywags stalking the halls of JLP party central.
An election was later held and the JLP was soundly rejected.
Close to one year later, the only sound voice in the present PNP administration seems to be that of PNP minister, Phillip Paulwell.
We have all accepted the fact that if we do not configure our energy-producing sector to move away from heavy oil-burning, we will remain in the backwoods forever. That we know. In the last JLP administration, one which made its name through making Jamaicans even more distrustful of politicians than they were before, once the matter of LNG arose, all eyes lit up!
Too many people were making too much money, we thought. And even if we did have the full picture in our minds, it must have meant that we the people were being shafted. Or so we imagined.
In the end, a weak JLP administration bowed to the dictates of political and public pressure and the entity that had won the concession for introducing LNG to Jamaica, Exmar, and its local connection were scuttled.
The PNP rejoiced.
With a PNP administration that is close to one year old and is generally suffering from “old-age” in so short a time, there have been a few areas which have attracted my attention, and it seems the attention of the general public, if word at street level still has any credence. I speak, of course, of the energy ministry.
First, there have been the efforts in levelling the playing field in the mobile phone market. Somehow that seems to be on the reverse as one big telecoms player has been playing grand games with the public. Second, a convenient and totally indiscriminating public has bought the idea that that particular telecoms entity is deeply in love with them.
That said, Minister Paulwell’s strident efforts to bring about a lowering of the energy bill to ALL in this country must be lauded.
First, there was the thought among many that the LNG project was going to be government-driven and run by a historically proved inefficient government, especially one dominated by the PNP, an administration that has a history of being anti-business and too socialist-oriented. Second, as the world turns, and especially in Jamaica, corruption was the big bugbear.
The present arrangement which takes the LNG supply project totally out of the hands of government, once it had reached the stage of deciding the directions of the energy policy of the country is, to me, the best compromise. It is not the perfect one, the one that I would have preferred – that of reverting to awarding the LNG bid to Exmar and its local partners. To me, however, Minister Paulwell has committed his ministry and government to the JPS lowering energy rates by 50 per cent by the year 2015, a time when the people of this country will still have the chance to make a decision on the direction of his government.
Let us face it – there is not much that the Portia Simpson Miller administration can feed to the people as pap at this time. It won the 2011 elections on wild and reckless promises and mostly on the fact that it placed the populist PM Simpson Miller out front to play her song-and-dance routine to the people. Since the win, her song has died and her dance has failed to move us, but in the bleachers, the political watchers know that the Opposition JLP has a next-to-impossible chance of regaining all that was lost and given away by the abysmal and indecisive leadership of Bruce Golding.
Seaga was dead right!
The IMF analysis of economic trends for the next five to 10 years makes for bleak reading. Jamaica has lived most of its post-independence life as a mendicant nation where our prime ministers earn their kudos and clout at the polls for selling to the people their potential for borrowing the most. To a people of low-information voters and aggressive businessmen who are always seeing in such an arrangement an opportunity to make an extra buck, that simply feeds into the idea that government in this country must not be a facilitator as much as it ought to be a feeding tree.
The people rely on this, especially whenever a PNP administration is in power, and big businesses know that as much as they hate to do business during a PNP administration, if they want to survive, the ball has to be kicked back and forth. Again, Seaga was right.
In an administration filled with too many old socialists, Phillip Paulwell is a leading light in the effort to draw the PNP into the new 21st century. Finance Minister Peter Phillips has long shucked off his socialist leanings as the rigours of the current economic climate present themselves to him in a most unkind light.
He has to face the harsh reality of an IMF programme in danger of being derailed by the historical politics of the PNP. The negotiations need the full cooperation of all inputs from the various ministries such as the energy and commerce ministries.
We all know that the prime minister is out to lunch, so not much can be expected there more than a tip to the poor waitress, a hug and a kiss. Poor “she”.
Keep doing your thing, Minister Paulwell. Who knows, maybe even the most inflexible leader can be brought fully into the 21st century.
Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, says the Government firmly believes that it is the private sector that should drive investment in energy projects.
He said the duty of the state is to create the enabling environment for investment and then for regulating that environment to ensure that the rules are fair and that everyone observes them.
“We have taken the important step in creating the legislative environment. We now need to improve on the bureaucracy of our regulatory environment because we need those investments to bring in jobs and we need to reduce our crippling oil bill,” he stated.
The Minister was speaking at a stakeholder workshop yesterday (Oct. 9) at the PCJ Auditorium in New Kingston, for the design of a streamlined process for private sector investment in renewable energy projects, particularly hydropower projects.
Jamaica‘s renewable energy market is fully liberalised and open to competition, following the Senate voting unanimously on Friday (Oct. 5), to approve the Extension of Functions Amendment Order, removing the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica‘s (PCJ) exclusive right to exploit and develop renewable resources to Jamaica. The move followed similar action by the House of Representatives the previous week.
The Minister said the move “is in keeping with the goals of our national energy policy, which calls for a modern, efficient, diversified and environmentally sustainable energy sector providing affordable and accessible energy supplies.”
More than 14 government ministries and agencies with responsibility for regulating and legislating various components of the hydropower developmental process, are participating in the training workshop, which is being held over two days.
Noting the importance of the training, Minister Paulwell said the process for approvals, permitting and licensing for small hydro development is “extremely time consuming” as various agencies need to be consulted.
“Right now, Jamaica needs a local approvals process which is time sensitive with clear indications as to how long the entire process will take cognisant, of course, of fitting into the overall time frame of the complete business process. We need a local approval process, which is interactive… transparent so that investors know how many steps are included and which ones to take,” he said.
The training is being delivered by experts from the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (US FERC), and will address issues including, energy infrastructure siting, laws and regulations, licensing processes and interagency interactions. FERC will provide advice based on their experience regulating the hydropower sector in the USA.
The Government has received financing from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development towards the cost of the Energy Security and Efficiency Enhancement Project.
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Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, says the Government firmly believes that it is the private sector that should drive investment in energy projects.
He said the duty of the state is to create the enabling environment for investment and then for regulating that environment to ensure that the rules are fair and that everyone observes them.
“We have taken the important step in creating the legislative environment. We now need to improve on the bureaucracy of our regulatory environment because we need those investments to bring in jobs and we need to reduce our crippling oil bill,” he stated.
The Minister was speaking at a stakeholder workshop yesterday (Oct. 9) at the PCJ Auditorium in New Kingston, for the design of a streamlined process for private sector investment in renewable energy projects, particularly hydropower projects.
Jamaica‘s renewable energy market is fully liberalised and open to competition, following the Senate voting unanimously on Friday (Oct. 5), to approve the Extension of Functions Amendment Order, removing the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica‘s (PCJ) exclusive right to exploit and develop renewable resources to Jamaica. The move followed similar action by the House of Representatives the previous week.
The Minister said the move “is in keeping with the goals of our national energy policy, which calls for a modern, efficient, diversified and environmentally sustainable energy sector providing affordable and accessible energy supplies.”
More than 14 government ministries and agencies with responsibility for regulating and legislating various components of the hydropower developmental process, are participating in the training workshop, which is being held over two days.
Noting the importance of the training, Minister Paulwell said the process for approvals, permitting and licensing for small hydro development is “extremely time consuming” as various agencies need to be consulted.
“Right now, Jamaica needs a local approvals process which is time sensitive with clear indications as to how long the entire process will take cognisant, of course, of fitting into the overall time frame of the complete business process. We need a local approval process, which is interactive… transparent so that investors know how many steps are included and which ones to take,” he said.
The training is being delivered by experts from the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (US FERC), and will address issues including, energy infrastructure siting, laws and regulations, licensing processes and interagency interactions. FERC will provide advice based on their experience regulating the hydropower sector in the USA.
The Government has received financing from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development towards the cost of the Energy Security and Efficiency Enhancement Project.
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THE EDITOR, Sir:
I applaud the Government, any government, for having the vision to seek out new approaches and modalities in attempting to address the myriad challenges we face as a growing nation. I am, however, puzzled that it took us spending all of US$2.8 million (J$252 million at today’s rates) to learn that, according to Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell, the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project is not feasible!
My problem with all this is, had these politicians been running their own businesses, would they be prepared to expend all those resources to come up with such results? I think not.
Over and over we see this trend in Jamaica where one government starts a project with significant outlay of public funds (usually borrowed money), only to see a succeeding administration shelve or abandon it, with little regard for the expenditures already incurred. And we wonder why we are carrying such a burdensome debt load with little to show for it?
We must demand an immediate accounting and disclosure to the nation of the J$252-million expenditure on this LNG project. Nothing less will suffice.
When I think of the number of rural roads that could be fixed, toilets that could be placed in rural schools to expose children to 20th-century sanitary conveniences, or school furniture that could be repaired in order to provide basic comfort to our children in the learning environment, it pains my heart deeply.
But what hurts even more is that these same children will be forced to help repay this borrowed money later, despite not enjoying any benefit from its expenditure.
CARL BLISS
cabliss@flowja.com
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Phillip Paulwell addresses the media at a Jamaica House media briefing on October 3. – Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer
Minister says plan to get other players into the electricity sector still on track despite LNG deal
Arthur Hall, Senior News Editor
Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell has underscored his intention to break up the Jamaica Public Service‘s (JPS) monopoly on the transmission and distribution of electricity, even as concerns grow that the company has been given a greater control of the sector.
Several concerns have been aired since Tuesday when Paulwell announced that the Government has decided – as reported by
THE Government says that it is withdrawing from the fuel source selection process to focus on creating a legislative and regulatory energy framework this fiscal year.
However, Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell told the House of Representative yesterday that the Government has not abandoned plans to introduce Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) into Jamaica by 2015.
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Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell |
He said that plans are well advanced for the introduction of LNG, but given the result of the bidding process, the Government has determined that it has taken the matter as far as it can go. He added that it was also the Government’s view that private electricity and alumina producers would have much more flexibility in procuring fuel supplies and use their international leverage to get the best possible prices.
However, “as a Government, we (will) continue to support and facilitate private investors as we work together to achieve the best possible solutions,” Paulwell said.
He stated that the LNG committee will be immediately disbanded and replaced with a body that includes members of the Jamaica Energy Council, the Office of Utilities and his ministry.
“With the termination of the work of the LNG steering committee, there will be no need to access the remaining US$2.6 million that was originally budgeted,” he explained in reference to the fact that the Government has already spent US$2.8 million of the US$5.4-million proposed budget for the LNG project.
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