GEBE has been in the news over the past weeks, starting with the announcement of a one-year pilot for 50,000 Caribbean guilders per month, or Cg. 600,000 in total, to provide vulnerable persons with up to Cg. 250 in relief on their monthly utility bills. Prime Minister Luc Merclina explained the next day that they were still developing criteria to extend assistance to other households that are financially strained but not registered at the Social Affairs Department.
He also said Bureau Telecommunications and Post (BTP) would become regulator of St. Maarten’s electricity tariffs and related fuel clause. In the meantime Member of Parliament (MP) Omar Ottley submitted a draft Ministerial Decree to place the price of electricity and fuels used to produce such under direct government supervision by Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Grisha Heyliger-Marten.
The latter welcomed the initiative and confirmed the intention to make BTP regulator for the sector. She also reiterated her commitment to senior rates and net metering so people who produce their own green energy get fair rates for what they feed back into the grid.
That’s interesting, because the Pisas II Cabinet recently approved a revised Policy on Small-Scale Sustainable Energy Production (see Monday newspaper) from the Regulatory Authority Curacao (RAC), formerly known as BTP. It exists since November 2011, offering Cg. 0.25 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), combined with a fixed monthly fee of Cg. 8, 16 or 24 per installed kWh.
This enables people to ensure a decent return on investment when seeking financing for solar panels and/or windmills. That makes the payback period considerably shorter than the internationally-accepted term of 7 to 10 years.
As reported elsewhere in this edition, the Netherlands is distributing 150 million euros to the three Dutch Caribbean countries to upgrade and expand their electricity grids. These funds aim to support the islands’ transition to wind and solar energy, ensuring that their power networks can handle the growing share of renewable sources.
St. Maarten can get 33 million euros, with specifics of how this amount will be allocated still being reviewed. If there was ever a time for GEBE to get serious about alternative energy, it is now.
