Not enough attention to alternative energy

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer - JAMAICA continues to agonise over the cost of electricity and the capacity to pay for its oil imports. This agony started with the first oil price shock in 1973 and the degree of agony has varied with the ebb and flow of oil prices. The country is in the throes of trying to reduce the cost of electricity and the oil import bill. Much attention is now being devoted to finalising the outcome of the bidding process for an additional 360-megawatt (MW) of electricity at the most competitive price. The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) is being lambasted over its handling of the selection of the "best" bidder to undertake the construction of a 360MW-generating power plant to provide additional generating capacity to the national grid. The heightened anxiety is also due to the impending changes in the terms of PetroCaribe, an eventuality that should have been anticipated and prepared for. Meanwhile, the productive sector continues to be stymied by the high cost of electricity and households are impoverished by their electricity bills. Jamaica has a very high price of electricity at 0.26 USD/kW h, which puts the economy at a substantial disadvantage in being internationally competitive. The cost of electricity has contributed to the deindustrialisation of the country, which is most evident in the manufacturing industry.