A judge in Curaçao sent electricity provider Aqualectra and the Sustainable Energy Association representing local solar panel owners and dealers back to the table in their legal dispute. The case is also of interest in St. Maarten, where an increasing number of people want to generate clean energy themselves.
Since January 1, 2015, solar panel owners in Curaçao must pay the government-owned utility company a fixed monthly amount. Three years earlier Aqualectra had already introduced a lower rate than it charges the client, when buying excess electricity from the private producers fed back into the grid.
That tariff of 40 Antillean guilder cents per kilowatt hour for small users (42 cents for large consumers) was later reduced to 33 cents and per 2016 to 25 cents. The company says this allows solar panel owners to earn back their investment in seven years, which they dispute.
The judge indicated that levying a fixed amount may not have been reasonable and asked experts of both parties to get together so they could come to a fair arrangement. Looking at the situation in other “civilised, more modern” countries such as Aruba, St. Maarten and the BES islands (Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba) was even mentioned.
However, the reality is that GEBE has not yet set a clear up-to-date policy on this matter. It seems high time to take that next step.
