JPS CEO Damian Obiglio wants Incandescent Bulb ban - Jamaican in the Twilight Zone

And God Said Let there be Light: and here was light

Genesis 1 vs 3, English Version

It looks like an awful lot of people are either reading my blog or secretly following my blog. This I has speculated was the reason for Foxconn deciding to use robots in their component assembling factory as opined in my blog article entitled “Foxconn to replace workers with Robots – Devil in a Blue Dress avoid Mutiny on the Bounty”. Thus I have yet another bounty on this Monday August 1^st 2011AD, Jamaica’s Emancipation Day!

I have found yet another case of another company taking advice from my blog. This time, I suspect it is JPS Co (Jamaica Public Service Company) CEO Damian Obligio making the rather strange suggestion that the Government of Jamaica ban Incandescent bulbs as stated in the article “JPS Wants Ban On Incandescent Bulbs”, published Monday August 1, 2011 by Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner.

The smoking gun that appears to be the article on my blog JPS Co CEO Damian Obligio cribbed the suggestion? My article on the Ministry of Labour and Social Security saving JA$9 million on utilities by simply making changes to their work habits as stated in my blog article entitled “Ministry of Labour and Social Security JA$9 Million Energy Savings - Mad Money for Happy Workers”.

After all, The Sunday Gleaner front page article entitled “No 'Light' Bills - JPS Says Zero Reduction In Electricity Costs”, published Sunday July 31, 2011 by Livern Barrett, Sunday Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner in which he suggests the very same solutions as practiced by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security makes my accusation of him cribbing from my blog a more relevant accusation!

Possibly JPS Co, which has been under the spotlight due to their excessive electricity bill charges and rates that are stifling the Manufacturing Sector and Residential Customer alike as my blog article entitled “Minister Clive Mullings retrogade step on Energy Sector Liberalization - JPS Co's Monopoly An Inconvenient Truth” records, has decided to wave the white flag on no more appropriate a day as Emancipation Day.

This as Minister of Energy and Mining Clive Mullings has apparently made an about face from his stated position roughly two (2) weeks ago and come out swinging in favour of the customer and going after the OUR (Office of Utilities Regulation) for defending the JPS Co as stated in the article “Mullings Chides OUR - Accuses Regulator Of Sleeping On The Job”, published Sunday July 31, 2011 by Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Minister of Energy and Mining Clive Mullings had initially given tacit support to the OUR’s support of the JPS Co’s position as it relates to the ending of the monopoly on the Distribution of Electricity as recorded in my blog article entitled “Minister Clive Mullings retrogade step on Energy Sector Liberalization - JPS Co's Monopoly An Inconvenient Truth”. Like JPS Co CEO Damian Obligio, the Minister of Energy and Mining Clive Mullings may be under pressure as well!

Guess the article about Residential customers suffering from high JPS Co Electricity bills and accusations of Customer Profiling as stated in the article "Have A Heart - Energy Minister Raps JPS Disconnection Policy", published Sunday July 31, 2011 by Livern Barrett, Sunday Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner may be having an effect on the JPS Co.

Manufacturing – or what little is left of it in Jamaica -  facing problems in the next three (3) months may sound overly dramatic, but it certainly made great articles such as the article “High JPS Bills 'Killing' Manufacturers”, published Sunday July 31, 2011, Anastasia Cunningham, Senior Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner and the article “'We Are Hurting Badly'”, published Sunday July 31, 2011 by Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Despite this amusing twist of fate connection, JPS Co CEO Damian Obligio is indeed correct as it relates to Residential Customers, quote: “If you walk into any building and look at the bottom of the door you will see five to ten centimetres from the floor to the bottom of the door. That's air-conditioning that you are losing. Conservation is the only immediate action that you can do to reduce your cost of electricity”.

Throw in the fact that most houses that have such cooling devices were never designed for Air Conditioning in the first place, and his asserting is quite correct. Add to that the fact that most Air Conditioning Units have very low efficiency when compared to other designs as suggested in my blog article entitled “Alternative Energy and Air Conditioning - Cool Runnings” as Jamaica, a Developing World country, may well be a dumping ground for inefficient Air Conditioning Technology from Developed World countries.

The ban on Incandescent Light Bulbs is also valid, being as they are of a lower level of efficiency compared to longer lasting Fluorescent Light Bulbs.

Even more efficient are the more expensive LED (Light Emitting Diode) Light Bulbs, which come with the added benefit of not attracting flying insects as stated in the article “Five things you didn't know about LED lightbulbs”, published JULY 28, 2011 6:36 AM PDT by Martin LaMonica, CNET News - Green Tech. Interesting article; do click and read!

So will Residential Customers in Jamaica take a page out of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security book and change their habits and become energy conservationists as per my blog article entitled “Ministry of Labour and Social Security JA$9 Million Energy Savings - Mad Money for Happy Workers”?

Or will they have to be pressured to do so with the return of the increase in the 10% tax on Electricity to temper Electricity usage in much the same way speeding tickets on Jamaican Road or Data Caps in Telecom Providers' Broadband Networks help to curb Data Hogs, which was actually my idea as stated in my blog article entitled “Ad Valorem Gas, 10 percent GCT on Electricity and Alternative Energy - Night and Day”?

This is ban on Incandescent Light bulbs as suggested by JPS Co CEO Damian Obligio is a good idea in the same lede as the above suggested and should be implemented with immediate effect.

Not to mention the long term goal of Liberalizing the Energy Sector and the removal of Import duty on Alternative Energy equiptment to help Manufacturing and Residential Customers as my blog article entitled “Minister Clive Mullings retrogade step on Energy Sector Liberalization - JPS Co's Monopoly An Inconvenient Truth” suggests, The Twilight Zone (TV Series 1959–1964) Style!