“LOWER ELECTRICITY COSTS TO COME FOR THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS”- TCI GOVERNMENT TCI COMMITS TO REDUCED CARBON EMMISSIONS & LOWER ELECTRICITY COSTS THROUGH ALTERNATIVE & RENEWABLE ENERGY Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, Thursday February 13, 2014 – History was made yesterday during the fourth Meeting of the Cabinet when the Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands, under the leadership of Premier, Dr. Rufus Ewing, further demonstrated its commitment to move the Turks and Caicos Islands towards alternative, renewable and cost-effective energy sources and away from that of the, now extremely costly, dependency on fossil fuel. A Post-Cabinet Release on the Cabinet meeting, held in Providenciales yesterday, commented that Cabinet discussed and agreed to put forth the Draft Revised Energy Policy for wider consultation. (Cabinet) Considered the Turks and Caicos Islands Draft Energy Policy including establishment of an Energy Council. The overarching objective of the policy is to reduce the cost of electricity and to improve energy security and environmental sustainability. Cabinet approved the policy for public consultation prior to final adoption. This follows the Turks and Caicos Islands expression of interest to join the ten island challenge, an initiative of the Carbon War Room, which supports the Governments plans to move towards renewable energy sources - Excerpt from Governor’s Office Post-Cabinet Press Release This comes on the heels of several Caribbean Governments recent signing, and agreement, to the implementation of alternative and renewable energy sources in their respective countries in the not-too-distant future, not least among them was the Turks and Caicos Islands. At what has been deemed a total success, last week Ministers and other heads of Governments throughout the Caribbean gathered in Tortola, British Virgin Islands for a week-long meeting, organised by the Carbon War Room, a non for profit organization chaired by Sir Richard Branson, founder and chairman of the Virgin Group. Our Governor, H. E. Peter Beckingham and Hon. George Lightbourne, Minister of Government Support Services were present to represent the Turks and Caicos Islands. Among the many topics discussed was the astronomically high electricity costs faced by the residents and business owners of the Turks & Caicos Islands. While the outrageous costs came as a shock to most, Sir Richard Branson asserted that there is still hope for savings, “Islands in the Caribbean have extremely high electricity costs and the new renewable projects could help reduce those costs. The highlight of the week was the signing of an agreement by four Caribbean Countries, namely St. Lucia, St. Kitts-Nevis, the British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands, demonstrating their commitment to the implementation and use of alternative and renewable sources of energy like solar, wind and the earth’s heat for the generation of electricity. This comes amid on-going negotiations between the Turks and Caicos Islands Government and Fortis TCI, the country’s sole provider of electricity. In recent years, due to the soaring and often unpredictable costs of the world’s fuel energy, residents have been hit with a staggering account for the Fuel Factor, which often equates some ninety-eight percent of electricity watt usage and a whopping forty-eight percent of the total monthly bill. The benefits to the production of a renewable energy source plant in the Turks and Caicos Islands are tremendous and through its implementation, the Government aims to reduce consumer costs and corporate expenditure, while also creating significant opportunities for the unemployed through the creation of “green jobs” thereby freeing up resources for the advancement of entrepreneurship and capital investment in other much-needed social programs by the public sector. Several other Caribbean countries have already begun the work to reduce dependency on fossil fuel by introducing programs engineered and steered by the Carbon War Room. Among them is Aruba who committed to being fossil-free by 2020 and has already seen a reduction in annual energy costs by US$80M after only five years. This year will see the commencement of efforts in the Turks and Caicos Islands, as we focus on the Island of West Caicos which has the potential for solar, wind, ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) and other Green technologies. This is according to Jonathan O’Dea, Senior Representative for Kew Capital, developers of the 24 sq. kilometre site. On returning to the country, Governor Beckingham commented that while the road ahead would be challenging, “we (Government) must work closely with utility Fortis to see how we and they can build on their initial plans for solar and wind power. When asked for his thoughts on alternative energy for the Turks and Caicos Islands, Hon. Lightbourne stated, “I am determined that we should see the introduction of alternative energy generation and believe this initiative will have a positive impact across the entire social spectrum and reduce operational overhead for the public and private sector(s) alike.” The exploration of renewable energy which began in earnest in 2011 with a draft policy being developed by Fortis TCI in collaboration with the Interim Government, was revived just last year after a return to elected Government. The Premier, Dr. Rufus Ewing, along with Minister of Finance, Hon. Washington Misick and Minister of Government Support Services (GSS) Hon. George Lightbourne, met with the Heads of Fortis TCI, to discuss the Turks and Caicos energy sector and in particular the high cost of electricity, and left with Fortis’s agreement to support Government’s initiatives to introduce alternative energy sources and Government’s commitment to develop a new Energy Policy including renewable energy strategies. END
Posted on: Fri, 14 Feb 2014 17:36:25 +0000
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