MONTEGO BAY, St James – Director General of the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), J Paul Morgan, on Monday called on the new Jamaica Labour Party administration to urgently articulate a clear fuel policy that would speak to diversification and in particular, the acquisition of liquid natural gas (LNG).

While not directly speaking to the recent memorandum of understanding between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller for the South American country to supply the island with LNG by 2009, Morgan said timing was crucial.

“There is no question that LNG at the right price, delivered at the right time is the choice for Jamaica,” he said Monday at a luncheon hosted by the OUR at the Wexford Court Hotel in Montego Bay.

“We are at a point at the OUR where we can’t wait any longer,” he added. “A decision has to be taken.”

He said the company’s decision-making and ultimately the price of electricity has been hanging in the balance since 2002 – when Jamaica first entered into talks with Trinidad and Tobago, which subsequently fell through.

“It is critical that the government articulate a clear policy of fuel and a clear policy on fuel diversification,” he argued. “Oil fuel cannot and must not be an option for future electricity generation.”

While acknowledging that the new government would have several major issues to deal with, the OUR head pointed out that a fuel policy was crucial, due to the far-reaching effects it would have on the country’s economy.

“Because of the long-term nature of electricity distribution the fuel policy must be addressed as a matter of priority,” he told the audience of local business people.

He further stated that the country had the opportunity to reverse the trend of increasing fuel prices to consumers with the addition of new capacity incorporating diversified fuel sources. If implemented, he said LNG could reduce the cost of fuel generation by some 25 per cent and ultimately reduce the cost to end-users by some 15 per cent.

Investors too, he outlined, who would be needed to invest heavily in the additional generating capacity needed in the next two to three years, would have keen interest in the new government’s fuel policy.