The Fair Trading Commission (FTC) recently ruled on the motion for review of the billing arrangement and metering option of the Renewable Energy Rider (RER) – see FTC Order and Decision . The RER is a mechanism established by government to facilitate the sale of surplus electricity to the grid supplied by customers with Renewable Energy (RE) systems.
The government of Barbados has committed to facilitate the RE sector as part of sustaining a new economy not overly dependent on traditional economic drivers. The growing energy bill of Barbados and dependence on fossil fuel is a concern. An important strategy therefore is to ensure the legislative and regulatory framework is expertly (sensibly) designed to encourage enthusiastic adoption of RE solutions. Key to a successful RE penetration is aggressive participation by RE providers and confidence by end consumers to embrace RE as a top of mind solution to satisfy energy needs.
For those who have been following the emergence of the local RE sector still at a nascent stage of development, several concerns have been raised by the early adopters. The most recent FTC hearing attracted submissions from CARITEL, Sir Allan Fields, Dick Stoute, Williams Industries, Solar Watt Systems and John Haywards. Visibly absent from the process was a consumer organization. Unfortunately the iterations embedded in the RER ‘decisioning’ process is bound up in technical language which the average Barbadian is inclined to leave to the experts to unravel. There is however a basic level of interest and participation all Barbadians should show as it pertains to the development of a national RE program. We are after all described as an educated and literate group of people.
Of the several issues associated with Barbados’ RE program at the top of the heap as far as BU is concerned, is the role of the Barbados Light & Power (BL&P) in the process. It appears to many BL&P has been able to influence the regulatory process, we can debate if deliberately or otherwise. If one listens to those who should know, the FTC has been guided in its ruling by the capacity of BL&P to ‘safely’ absorb intermittent renewable energy into the grid. BU assumes intermittent because there is an element of unpredictability associated with wind and solar as energy sources and because RE generation currently falls outside BL&P’s menu of options to generate electricity.
To quote feedback from an FTC Commissioner, “”the limit [intermittent energy] is currently 16MW of which 7MW have currently been reserved for the renewable energy rider – the remainder is available for BL&P and Independent Power Producers (IPP’s) but this is subject to change. There is a study currently underway to determine if the 16MW may be safely increased. The regime for IPP’s has not yet been finalized by government”. The additional point was stated that the new Electricity Light & Power Act (still to be proclaimed like other pieces of legislation) gives the minister of energy the authority to set limits for the sale of electricity to the grid AFTER consultation with an Advisory Committee, BL&P and the FTC.
If government spokesperson, in this case Senator Darcy Boyce, would accept the responsibility to actively engage the public who he is being paid to serve, a lot of the uncertainty and concerns dogging the industry could be allayed. In fairness to Senator Boyce he is on public record declaring that government’s policy is guided by a concern to maintain a stable grid. The question we need the minister of energy to answer is to what extent has the government been aggressive in delineating the issues – in the interest of Barbados – when consulting with the BL&P/EMERA as part of the decision making process.
BU is not apprised of all the RE issues on the table to be definitive in making conclusion but there is a heavy suspicion that a case can be made of the tail wagging the dog. The RE sector is important to a future economy of Barbados and it should be managed as a priority issue and indigenous concerns aggressively encouraged to become heavily vested in the sector.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.