Jamaica moves to reduce energy costs under public pressure

Source:Xinhua Published: 2013-2-20 13:37:42

Jamaica would take moves to reduce electricity bills for the island's top tier industrial users to soothe mounting anger over spiraling energy costs, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Phillip Paulwell, Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, announced in the parliament that a change has been made to the policy governing the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) - the island's sole distributor of electricity - to allow for a 25 percent reduction in the non-fuel tariff component of the island's top 20 industrial electricity customers.

Additionally, he said that a further discount would be allowed for the off-peak energy consumption of commercial and industrial users.

"These measures will greatly ease the burden on the production and manufacturing sectors," Paulwell said.

But reacting almost immediately on local radio following the announcement without the benefit of a detailed analysis, Brian Pengelly, president of the Jamaica Manufacturers Association (JMA) - the group representing the country's manufacturers - said members felt encouraged but pointed out that the change would only result in a 5 percent savings as the non-fuel tariff component only accounts for about 40 percent of the electricity bill of industrial customers.

Pengelly, whose association had issued a 30-day ultimatum to the government last month to address ballooning energy costs, also voiced concern for small and medium-sized businesses, which do not fall in the top tier of electricity users.

Paulwell also announced the removal of the Common External Tariff and an exemption of the General Consumption Tax on the importation of a number of energy saving devices and accessories, including solar powered water heaters and lighting devices, solar panels, Light Emitting Diodes, compact fluorescent bulbs and absorption refrigeration systems, among others.

He said this move would contribute to a reduction in energy consumption among Jamaicans and would gradually result in the country spending less to import oil for energy production, which, he revealed, was one of the key conditions of the long-waited International Monetary Fund deal for a 750 million US dollars loan facility.

Statistics show that Jamaica spends over 2 billion US dollars annually to import oil for energy production.

Posted in: Americas

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