Solamon Energy Corp & Green RG invest in Jamaica's Alternative Energy Future - Let the Cheaper Energy Hunger Games for Latin America Begin

It looks like the Energy Sector in Jamaica is soon to be jolted by competition on a massive scale thanks to the American-Canadian Tag Team of American-based Green RG Management LLC (Green RG) and Canadian-based Solamon Energy Corp.

This as reported in the articles “Largest solar farm to be built in Jamaica” published Wednesday January 25, 2012, The Jamaica Gleaner and “Green RG to build alternative energy plant in Jamaica”, published Friday, January 27, 2012 BY PAUL ALLEN Business reporter, The Jamaica Observer respectively.

Solamon Energy Corp is planning to invest some CAN$450 million (US$444,200,000 million or JA$38,090,150,000.00 billion) in a Photovoltaic Installation, with details of their business plan as reported in my Geezam Blog article entitled “Solamon Energy Corporation to build Caribbean’s Largest Solar Plant – Jamaica to get a Green Energy Boost”.

This is to consist of three (3) fifty acre plots in three (3) different parishes, as spoken by Solamon's senior vice-president, Ainsley Brown, quote: “In order to implement a solution of this magnitude, several parishes are being considered as future homes of one of three 50-acre plots that, when conjoined, will provide the Jamaican people with 60MW of clean Electricity”.

An impressive investment, which on the face of it means work for thousands of Technicians and Engineers in the Electrical, Mechanical and Power fields! Work for Telecoms Engineers and Technicians possibly being employed to build out the communications infrastructure to allow for the various plants to communicate with each other via a Microwave based IP RAN or Fiber Optic Network is also in the mix.

A welcome possibility for those former CLARO RF Technicians and Network Engineers currently out of work as noted in my blog article entitled “Digicel to shut down CLARO's Voice Network in HSDPA+ Push - The Louisiana Purchase of Spectrum”.

In addition, Solamon Energy Corp will take advantage of Power Wheeling and Net Billing to deliver Electricity to existing customers over the existing Electricity Grid, but bill customer using smartmeters that can transmit the customer Billing Data back to Solamon Energy Corp Billing AMA (Automated Messaging and Accounting) Server located at their equivalent of a MSC (Mobile Switching Center) via a suitable Telecom Provider’s (LIME of Digicel?) 2G GPRS (Global Packet Radio Service) and EDGE (Enhanced Data Network for GSM Evolution).

This is in much the same way that Manager of Technology Development David Masters of Duke Energy’s, a US based Energy company which plans to invest US$1 billion in a smart meters and Power Station Installations monitoring facility via a AT&T and Verizon’s 2G Network  as stated in my blog article entitled “AT&T overcharges for unlimited SMS again - Duke Energy's US$1 billion Investment in The Dead Zone”, works.

An even more interesting model that Solamon Energy Corp could adopt is that of Google, which is installing Solar Panels and Wind Turbines at Residential Customers via a US$850 million financial loan arrangement with Californian VC (Venture Capitalist) Clean Power Finance.

This as stated in the article “Google: Rent your Solar panels from us”, published September 28 2011 10:55 AM PDT by Candace Lombardi, CNET News - Green Tech  and “Google helping homeowners get Solar Power with $75 million investment”, published September 28 2011 by Jeff Hughes, DigitalTrends. 

No doubt in that model, customer are being billed for the Electricity usage on a flat rate or Usage based regime over the life of the loan as surmised in my blog article entitled “Google invests US$75 million in Residential Solar PUC - Aliens in future Energy Market Shakeup”.

It will most definitely mean competition in the Energy Sector, which will translate to cheaper Electricity costs in the next 2-3 years, my estimate as to how long it will take Solarmon Energy Corp to build out this massive marvel of Power Engineering. A sure answer to those Private and Public Sector companies suffering from the current monopoly JPS Co as stated plain in my blog article entitled “Minister Clive Mullings retrogade step on Energy Sector Liberalization - JPS Co's Monopoly An Inconvenient Truth”.

A similar tale exists for Green RG Management LLC (Green RG), which has been in Jamaica since June 2011AD as note in the article “Gov't signs solar energy pact with American company”, published Thursday, June 16, 2011, JIS, The Jamaica Observer.

At that time Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Local Government Reform, Robert Montague had signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Green RG Management LLC (Green RG) to test out some “Solar Energy Technologies” in Jamaica.

This is mainly Solar Streetlights using LED’s, an issue raised as requiring a contractor to implement as per my blog article entitled “Alternative Energy Contract for JPS Co Streetlight Upgrade Coming - JPS Co Winsome Callum's Bourne Supremacy”. Guess that intended contractor was going to be Green RG Management LLC (Green RG). It Figures!

I also can also assume that the guinea pig testing is over, as Green RG Management LLC (Green RG) has made the deal official, with the announcement of their intention to invest in a plant like Canadian-based Solamon Energy Corp as noted in the article “Green RG to build alternative energy plant in Jamaica’, published Friday, January 27, 2012 BY PAUL ALLEN Business reporter, The Jamaica Observer.

But unlike the crazy Canadians, their strategy is to make the Solar Energy gear i.e. photovoltaic, solar street lights, not to resell power for profit from Commercial and Residential customers. Green RG Management LLC (Green RG)’s intentions are clear: Jamaica is a launching pad with the eventually goal of going into the heart of Latin America, with Jamaica as the guinea pigs for their “Solar Energy Technologies”!

This as stated clearly by Alfred Heyer CEO and President of Green RG Management LLC (Green RG), quote: “We believe that Jamaica is the gateway for the rest of the Caribbean. So we feel from here we can actually launch a campaign into the rest of the Caribbean and into South America”.

Jamaica thus benefits from:

• Employment and training of hundreds of thousand of Electrical, Power, Mechanical and Telecoms Engineers
• Cheaper electricity via competition created by the presence of these companies
• Cheaper Solar (photovoltaic) equiptment, helping many Jamaicans to finally get of JPS Co’s Grid a little more cheaply unlike Mr. Chong in my blog article entitled “Lack of Waivers for Expensive Alternative Energy Gear - Mr. Paul Chong's Adoption Contradiction”

The GOJ (Government of Jamaica) soon became Green RG Management LLC (Green RG)’s guinea pigs, with the State benefiting from a reduction in its Electricity bill from the partnership, which became officials in October 2011AD as stated in the article “Gov't, US company partner on solar technology testing project”, published Monday, October 10, 2011 BY TANESHA MUNDLE Observer staff reporter, The Jamaica Observer and “US-based company to test solar technology in Jamaica”, published Monday, October 10, 2011 by JIS, The Jamaica Observer

Apparently, both of these companies, like moths to a flame, were attracted to the recent announcement of changes to JPS Co 10 year exclusive license, which effectively had made them an Energy Monopoly, should allow for competition in Jamaica in the Energy Sector, specifically Electricity Generation.

These basic changes were announced some three (3) month ago by Minister of Energy and Mining Clive Mullings as reported originally in the article “New Terms OK'ed In JPS Deal”, published Thursday October 20, 2011, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Effectively, this announced the beginning of the Liberalization the Energy Sector in Jamaica as I had surmised in my blog article entitled “Ministry of Energy Clive Mullings alters the JPS Co License for Energy Sector Liberalization - Jamaica and The Sun Salutes You”.

Again these changes to JPS Co License bear repeating here:

• Net Billing
• Power Wheeling
• An increase on the cap on the amount of Electricity that can be generated by PUC (Power Utility Companies) via Alternative Energy sources and sold to the JPS Co from 10MW to 15MW.

In addition to these legislative changes that appears to be are attracting investment into Jamaica’s now obviously open-for-business-and-competition Energy Sector, the previous JLP-led government has also initiated Licensed for the supply of LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) as well as the design of Hydro-Electric Plants as stated in the articles “Bids to open next year for LNG terminal”, Published Sunday December 4, 2011, The Jamaica Gleaner

And “PCJ accepting bids for hydropower projects”, Published Friday December 2, 2011, The Jamaica Gleaner.

This is really the first wave folks. More investors are coming, and clearly Jamaica is not the intended ultimate recipient of all this Energy Sector Liberalization competition benevolence.

Like Telecom Provider Digicel did back in 2000AD when they came to Jamaica, these competitors American-based Green RG Management LLC (Green RG) and Canadian-based Solamon Energy Corp in the Energy Sector are BOTH (whether they say it or not!!!) using Jamaica as launch pad to push into Latin America, effectively making us Jamaicans Guinea Pigs for their grander ambitions.

With JPS Co caught in the middle of this coming wave upgrading its Electromechanical Meters to Digital Meters, which are really smartmeters as noted in my blog article entitled “JPS Co New Digital Meters are all Smart Meters - Winsome Callum's A Simple Twist of Fate”, this is now officially the beginning of The Hunger Games (2012) for Jamaica with a push towards Latin America.