Prepaid Power coming in July 2013 - A Chip, a Pebble a Rock and a Block would make Prepaid Power The Kings of Summer

“I am pleased to report that at its meeting yesterday, Cabinet approved an amendment to the Customs Act to reflect CET exemptions that had previously been granted by CARICOM's Council of Trade and Economic Development for a period of five years from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2017.”

Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell in a presentation to the House of Representatives on Tuesday February 19^th 2013

Unless you are not a huge fan of CVM TV, by now you may have seen my interview on CVM at Sunrise on Monday May 20^th 2013 on which I briefly discussed Prepaid Power. This wasn’t the best of interviews, being as it was my first interview, but I held my own and made suggestions on how Prepaid Power may be introduced in Jamaica.

Prepaid Power is now topical, having been proposed earlier this Tuesday February 19^th 2013 by Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell in a presentation to the House of Representatives as stated in the article “Prepaid power? - Gov't flirts with possibility of buying electricity before actual use”, Published Wednesday February 20, 2013 by Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner. In this fora, he proposed the following:

1.      Removal of CET (Common External Tariff) on sixteen (16) Energy Saving devices e.g. Power timers, UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)

2.      Removal of GCT (General Consumption Tax) on thirty one (31) Energy Saving devices directly related to Alternative Energy e.g. Solar Panels, Solar Inverters, Power Transfer Switches and Servers

This, along with a decrease in the Electricity Rates in July 2013 for Industrial Manufacturers to encourage production as noted in article “Paulwell promises reduction in Electricity bills by July”, published Tuesday, February 19, 2013 | 3:05 PM, The Jamaica Observer as noted in paves the way for Prepaid Power for Residential customers.

The equipment for customer to accurately measure and do power audits are necessary part of Prepaid Power will be cheaper and easily affordable as described in my blog article entitled “JPS Co introduces Prepaid Power and reduces Industrial Electricity Rates in July 2013 - JPS Co copies Telecom Providers as it performs The Last Exorcism Part II of Jamaicans stealing Electricity”.

Despite the reservation many may have about Prepaid Power, it presents a chance to make Energy efficiency a way of life for Jamaicans if implemented as described in my blog article entitled “JPS Co to introduce PrepaidPower and other Services by 2013 - Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn 2 Signals Coming Competition from Alternative Energy”.

Especially as we’re now heading into the Atlantic Hurricane Season, a period of Turbulent weather associated with Dry spells, rainy period, hurricanes and loss of power as noted in my blog article entitled “Neville Bell Hurricane Barbara the first for Atlantic and Pacific Hurricane Season starting Saturday June 1 2012 - Caribbean theatre for the Class of Hurricanes in Monsters University”.

But a worse storm is coming; it’s called the Summer Holidays…with children!

 With the kids at home, the worry of the electricity bill skyrocketing is now very real, as they have to be kept cool to avoid them getting dehydrated. So with Prepaid Power coming in July 2013, the best power saving tips I can offer are as follows:

1.      Keep the kids outdoors and hydrated

2.      Wear light coloured clothing while indoors

3.      Plug out appliances when not in use

4.      Turn off the main Breaker when traveling for long periods

Hopefully too, the GOJ (Government of Jamaica) will also ban the importation of Incandescent Bulbs as it tries to make Fluorescent and LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulbs cheaper and more accessible via the revive Cuban Light as the newly rebranded Cuba-Jamaica Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) Project as described in my blog article entitled “Minister Paulwell revives Cuban Light Bulb Program - How to Ban Incandescent Bulbs and focus on production of LED Bulbs in Jamaica”

Marketing Prepaid Power using catch names for the Blocks of power i.e. Chip for 3 day, Pebble for 7 days, Rock for a fortnight and Block for a 3 day period. A Chip, a Pebble a Rock and a Block would make Prepaid Power The Kings of Summer (2013).