Jamaica seeks cheaper energy after high electricity bills ^{CEFR B2}

Following Hurricane Beryl last July, many Jamaicans reported sharp rises in electricity bills and complained that the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) charged them too much. Energy minister Daryl Vaz asked the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) to review the charges. The OUR recommended that customers who received estimated bills in July should pay 40 percent less on their August bills.

Jamaica imports all the oil it uses for electricity and transport, which has pushed the government to seek alternatives to reduce energy costs. Efforts have focused on solar power, and more recently attention has turned to ocean-based renewables such as offshore wind farms and ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC).

• Offshore wind farms place turbines at sea and send power to shore through underwater cables.
• OTEC uses the temperature difference between warm surface water and cold deep water to generate electricity, a method suited to tropical seas.

Ricardo Case, Director of Engineering Services at JPS, warned that such projects are very expensive and would require large international funding. He said offshore wind and wave energy would not lower costs in the short term and that consumers might see reductions only after about 15 years when the investment is amortised. Case proposed public-private partnerships, green funds and IPOs or floating bonds over 10 years to finance start-up and maintenance costs. Energy economist Duane Rowe agreed that high upfront costs are a barrier but noted that grants or financing and technological learning curves can reduce costs over time; Europe used feed-in tariffs in a similar process. Experts also cautioned that plants must be designed to withstand hurricanes and storm surges and that careful environmental assessments are needed. A shift to renewables could cut greenhouse gas emissions, strengthen energy security, create jobs and increase resilience to climate risks in the Caribbean.