Looks
like the GOJ (Government of Jamaica’s) gotten hip to the idea of LED (Light
Emitting Diodes) as a means of reducing their JA$2.8 Billion Electricity Bill for the estimated 93,000 Street
Lights across the length and breadth of Jamaica as per the article “Gov't seeks to reduce costs for
street lights”,
published Thursday, December 20, 2012, The
Jamaica Observer
and “Cabinet approves policy to cut
street light bill”,
published 2012-12-20 08:49:38, Go-Jamaica. This came to light in a Jamaica
House Media Briefing chaired by Information Minister Sandrea Falconer on
Wednesday December 19th 2012.
And without it being said, I already
have an idea who the Contractor may be: American-based Green RG
Management LLC (Green RG) as per my blog
article entitled “Solamon
Energy Corp & Green RG invest in Jamaica's Alternative Energy Future - Let
the Cheaper Energy Hunger Games for Latin America Begin”.
About time too that GOJ’s made news
on this necessary upgrade public. Since November 2011, the GOJ’s been saddled
with an ever increasing Electricity Bill mainly due to Mercury Incandescent
Bulbs used in Streetlights. Even worse, most of them have malfunctioning
photocells and are still on in the daytime burning current as noted in “Day-Burning Street Lights Costing JPS”, published
Sunday November 20, 2011, Gary Spaulding, Senior Staff Reporter, The Jamaica
Gleaner.
Back then in my blog
article entitled “Alternative
Energy Contract for JPS Co Streetlight Upgrade Coming - JPS Co Winsome Callum's
Bourne Supremacy”, I’d
suggested the GOJ may have a massive contract up their sleeve to change out all
Streetlights to LED Lamps powered by Solar Panels or even mini wind Turbines,
taking the GOJ off the JPS Co Grid altogether. Traffic Light could be next,
many of which already use LED but could be taken off the grid using Solar or
Wind Turbine Technology from Green RG.
Green RG already has deals with the GOJ to be Guinea Pigs for
their Technology with the aim to get the various Ministries of Government off
the Grid as discussed at length in my blog
article entitled “Solamon
Energy Corp & Green RG invest in Jamaica's Alternative Energy Future - Let
the Cheaper Energy Hunger Games for Latin America Begin”.
More recently I’d posited the same idea as well along with a
raft of other suggestions in anticipation of the introduction of Prepaid Power
from JPS Co in my blog
article entitled “JPS Co to introduce Prepaid Power and other Services by 2013
- Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn 2 Signals Coming Competition from Alternative
Energy”.
Those measures for reducing Ja’s consumption of Electricity
and prevent the dumping of inefficient Products in Jamaica are:
1. Air
Conditioning Units that are not Inverter based AND Solar Powered
2. Solar
Panels manufactured Jamaica. Cheaper due to the reduced damaged and
transportation costs as argued by Dwight Cousins, Energy Solutions Department
Manager at Isratech Jamaica Limited in his letter to Editor entitled “More
on Isratech's solar operation” published Sunday
November 11, 2012, The
Jamaica Gleaner
3. Incandescent
Bulbs. They should have been banned a long time ago and replaced with LED
(Light Emitting Diodes) and Fluorescent Bulbs as suggested in my blog
article entitled “JPS
CEO Damian Obiglio wants Incandescent Bulb ban - Jamaican in the Twilight Zone”
4. Removal
of Duties on the importation of Wind Turbines and Solar Panels, the price of
which has been falling thanks to Economy-of-scale production in China as
explained in “Solar
power comes of age”, published Wednesday, April 11, 2012
BY PAUL RODGERS
Business Editor, The Jamaica Observer
5. Implementation of a policy of Net Billing Building Code Regulation to
have all houses fitted so that they’re ready for customer to install Solar
Panels to resell power back to JPS Co as per my
blog
article entitled “Phillip Paulwell makes Net Billing
official with 11 licenses issued - JPS Co invited via Mavado's Come Round a Mi
Yard”
The GOJ’s gotta reduce its massive Electricity Bill as had
been promised since 2011 by the then JLP-led Administration as noted in my
blog
article entitled “GOJ and Government Ministry's Energy Usage - Senator Audley
Shaw and the Langoliers”.
The GOJ may even end up producing excess power that they can
resell to JPS Co via a Net Billing Arrangement as described in my
blog
article entitled “Phillip Paulwell makes Net Billing
official with 11 licenses issued - JPS Co invited via Mavado's Come Round a Mi
Yard”, as the Li-Ion Batteries
inside of the Solar or Wind Turbine powered LED Streetlights don’t take long to
recharge.
Good to see the PNP-led GOJ’s championing LNG and are now
making progress towards the start of the SJPC (South Jamaica Power Company) LNG (Liquid Natural Gas)
Power Plant. This LNG Plant begins construction in the Second Quarter of 2013
as reported in my blog
article entitled
“SJPC, the Marubeni, EWP and JPS Co consortium's to begin LNG
Plant Construction in Q2 of 2013 - Jamaica's On A Mission towards The
Impossible Promised Land”.
However, despite all this apparently coordinated Energy
Saving Activity, one thing is still true; cheaper Electricity is pointless if
Electricity Consumption habits and importation of Technology that’s not Energy
efficient continues without tighter GOJ regulation. To this end, a PR (Public
Relations) Drive via JIS (Jamaica information Service) has to be done to
educate the Public (yet again!) on Energy Saving tips as
explained in the article “Dry
your tears and wipe those bills”, published Sunday
November 25 2012 by Camilo
Thame Business Co-ordinator, The Jamaica Observer,
to reduce their Electricity and Water Bills,
being as the two are interconnected.
Ditto too JPS Co introduction of Prepaid Electricity as per my
blog
article entitled my blog
article entitled “JPS Co to introduce Prepaid Power and other Services by 2013
- Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn 2 Signals Coming Competition from Alternative Energy”. Like
using a Prepaid or even a Postpaid phone with fixed minutes from one our local
Telecom Providers, you’ve gotta resist the temptation to top up unnecessarily
and use only when needed.
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