In the face of rising oil prices which world citizens can expect to impact negatively on global economies, BU was driven by desperation to ask the Barbados Light & Power (BL&P) the hard questions.
Here are the questions which Barbados Underground posed to Chief Marketing Manager Stephen Worme of Barbados Light & Power Co Ltd:
BU have read your comments in recent days against the backdrop of rising oil prices. Although your explanations make perfect sense to us, the earned media which you are getting out of it is starting to conflict with the genuine fear of Barbadians given the uncertainty which faces us and the world.
Anyway, you are the expert in managing the media and this kind of situation!
We want to ask you what initiatives can you table at this time. Is it a case that you will just go along with the market? What can you do to lobby, push the government on those initiatives to move forward on the alternative sources of energy?
What can you tell us!
How can we sit an play dead in the face of rising oil prices?
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We are pleased to report that Mr. Worme was gracious enough to respond as he has in the past:
The recent information we shared in the press regarding the increasing price of oil and other commodities was intended to inform the public of the further impact these increases would on them if it was necessary for Government to revise the current level of subsidies being provided on electricity, gasoline, diesel and some food items. It was also intended to encourage them to make choices – by conserving energy, etc. – that would help to mitigate the price shock that may result if this were to occur.
In our communication, we aim is to keep customers informed on issues that impact on them and this hopefully will help them make more informed choices. Our hope is that this recent communication would have been received in this way by the broader cross section of customers.
We take seriously our responsibility to meet the needs of our customers by providing a safe and reliable electricity supply at reasonable prices. In the past, because of the higher prices and the stage of development of many of the renewable technologies, our fuel choice has been limited to oil and our generation expansion has been based on the least cost options for oil fueled generators.
Our investments are long term (25 years and more) and have to be based on sound economics and the technologies we use must be proven. As the price of oil continues to rise, research and development of renewable technologies has escalated and many of them are becoming both commercially proven and economically viable. Wind is one of these and one which would suit our situation in Barbados. We have done a lot of work over the years to establish a wind farm in St Lucy but this is still pending approval from the Chief Town Planner.
We are also aware of the developments in photovoltaics and have installed grid-tied test systems at two locations to gain experience in their operation. We are presently developing an interconnection agreement for these systems and looking into a rate for purchase of energy supplied on to our grid by these systems. The Government has articulated its interest in expanding the use of these systems and we are looking forward to working with them to make this a reality.
The source we think has the greatest potential for reducing energy costs to Barbadians in the short to medium term is natural gas from Trinidad, which is not only significantly cheaper than oil but is also more environmentally friendly . For some time we have been working with the Eastern Caribbean Gas Pipeline Company of Trinidad & Tobago and local Government agencies to realise this opportunity. It is estimated that the equivalent price will be in the region of 50% to 60% of the price of what we presently pay for heavy fuel oil. We will continue to work with Government to bring this project to fruition at the earliest opportunity.
We will also continue to work with Government on projects such as the cane industry restructuring project, landfill gas generation and waste-to-energy.
We very much appreciate the feedback and discussion which you and others facilitate to keep people informed of the many issues that impact on us here in Barbados. We will continue to benefit from this as we all work to find the right solutions for our country.
On behalf of Barbados Underground and the Bajan blogosphere we want to thank the Barbados Light & Power for demonstrating the vision to work with all media sources to educate Barbadians and others on the serious matter of developing sustainable alternative energy sources.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.