THE governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the main Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) have opened a new battlefront as they step up their campaigns for the general election expected by September.

This time, the two parties are at odds over the use of renewable sources to meet the country’s energy needs and lower, in particular, the cost of electricity to Jamaicans.

The opening salvo came from PNP President Mark Golding last week as he addressed Comrades in Westmoreland Central.

At that time, Golding charged that renewable sources not being used to power more of the country’s energy needs is a direct failure of the Andrew Holness-led Administration.

“In nine years they have done nothing to move the needle forward in terms of, except for one RFP [request for proposal] that finally went out just the other day…We are committed to bringing down the price of electricity by expanding investment in renewable energy — solar, wind, waste to energy, hydro, whatever it maybe.

“Phillip Paulwell is on the case and he is working hard, and he is going to deliver for Jamaica like he did before when it came to telecoms,” declared Golding.

On Friday Paulwell, the PNP’s spokesman on energy, continued the barrage during an interview on Nationwide News at 5, as he charged that the Holness-led Administration dropped the ball in 2016 when it assumed power as the then PNP Government had established policies and a process to move Jamaica much further than it is today in the use of renewables.

“When we left office in 2016, because of the work that we had done in diversifying energy sources, our price had moved from about US$0.40 per kilowatt-hour [kWh] to about US$0.23-US0.26 [per kWh] average at that time,” said Paulwell as he alleged that today, the price is back up sometimes to as much as US$0.50 per kWh, which makes Jamaica one of the most expensive destinations.

“If we had done all of the transformation using solar, our price of electricity today would be a fraction of what it is now,” added Paulwell.

He charged that the Holness-led Administration has changed energy minister a number of times over the past nine years, and argued that the focus necessary to move aggressively towards alternative sources of energy was not there.

“I believe the Government did not see the importance of energy in this whole growth [push]. I think they are recognising that now, but it is far too late,” added Paulwell as he declared that the PNP has a plan that is going to dramatically change energy in Jamaica, particularly on the electricity side.

But, in a release on Friday, Cabinet member in charge of the energy portfolio Daryl Vaz returned fire as he rejected the Opposition’s claims.

According to Vaz, since December 2020, Jamaica’s renewable energy generation has grown by approximately 20 per cent.

“This remarkable progress reflects a combination of supportive policies, regulations, and a global decline in the per unit cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.

“While the capacity of utility-scale renewable plants remained constant, the main driver of this growth has been the widespread implementation of small and medium-scale solar systems,” said Vaz.

He argued that by December 2024, Jamaica’s renewable energy capacity for electricity generation stood at 188 megawatts (MW), producing about 481,431 megawatt-hours (MWh) — equivalent to 10 per cent of total power generation.

“Jamaica’s current renewable energy mix includes solar, wind, hydropower, biogas, firewood, charcoal, and bagasse,” said Vaz.

The minister pointed out that in July 2022, the House of Representatives passed the Electricity (Net Billing) Regulations, encouraging further development of renewable energy sources behind the meter.

“In 2023, the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport recorded a notable increase in applications for net billing licences, aligning with Goal 3 of Jamaica’s National Development Plan to develop renewable energy sources that bolster international competitiveness, strengthen energy security, and reduce the nation’s carbon footprint.

“Under these licences, residential and commercial customers of the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited can generate electricity solely from renewable sources and sell excess energy back to the grid at rates set by the Office of Utilities Regulation,” said Vaz.

He added that since 2023, his ministry has licensed 436 new renewable systems, amounting to about 8.5 MW of new generation capacity, and issued 10 auxiliary licences, totalling roughly 11 MW of additional generation.

“A recent tender by the Generation Procurement Entity (GPE) for net 100 MW of electricity generation from renewable energy yielded competitive bids for a total of 99.83 MW of solar capacity, awarded to Wigton Energy Limited and Sunterra Energy Jamaica Limited.

“This procurement initiative supports the Government of Jamaica’s policy objective of achieving 50 per cent renewables by 2030,” added Vaz.

According to the energy minister, the GPE is now preparing to competitively procure approximately 220 MW of utility-scale renewable generation.

“Upon completion of these competitive processes — alongside JPS’s intended replacement of 171.5 MW of retiring fossil fuel units — Jamaica’s renewable electricity generation capacity is projected to approach 48 per cent,” said Vaz. The energy minister pointed out that in 2024, Jamaica moved up eight places from 47th to 39th in BloombergNEF’s Climatescope report — an assessment of emerging markets for renewable energy investment worldwide.

“Among the 20 countries evaluated in Latin America and the Caribbean, Jamaica ranked 10th. Jamaica’s strong performance is attributed to its comprehensive renewable energy policies, clear targets, and effective incentives, resulting in a power score exceeding the regional average,” said Vaz.