THE Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has unveiled the bare bones of a five-point plan to lower the cost of electricity in Jamaica.

Making his contribution to the 2025/26 Budget Debate in Parliament on Thursday, Opposition spokesman on finance, planning, and the public sector Julian Robinson pointed out that the cost of energy is a major component in the productive process and charged that Jamaica’s high energy cost has been a barrier to economic growth.

“A PNP Government will not accept the status quo where high electricity costs drain businesses, stifle innovation, and make Jamaican products uncompetitive in global markets. If we are serious about export-led growth, we must be just as serious about energy reform,” Robinson said as he gave a broad outline of programmes to be implemented by a future PNP Government to lower electricity costs.

While Robinson told the House that Opposition Leader Mark Golding, and the party’s spokesman on energy Phillip Paulwell would provide additional details on the Opposition’s energy plan, he announced that under a PNP Administration there would be a push for expansion in the use of renewable energy, and the scaling up of net billing with an increase in the rate so that it becomes more attractive.

“So that people who want to invest in solar, or wind, or whatever they want to do, can do so and sell to the grid because right now there is no incentive to do it under the current Electricity Act,” said Robinson.

He added that a PNP Administration will also look at power wheeling, which was under consideration when the party was last in Government. This will allow entities with multiple locations to generate energy in one location and supply the others.

According to Robinson, a PNP Government will also look at implementing micro-grids in communities to tackle the issue of energy poverty and implement a transparent pricing mechanism for electricity bills.

He said the PNP will also support vulnerable customers, including special consideration for the elderly and people with special needs, “and we are going to amend the laws to allow full liberalisation of the electricity market”, he said.

“This plan will be implemented on a phased basis as we move to ensuring consumers start to see more affordable bills in the short to medium term,” said Robinson.

Turning to the initiative announced by Finance Minister Fayval Williams to reduce electricity theft during her opening of the budget debate on Tuesday, Robinson said the PNP was not opposed to this as it had launched a similar programme in 2014.

He told the House that he was the minister of state in the Ministry of Science and Energy when the programme was first introduced by the PNP.

According to Robinson, at that time, the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) and Jamaica Public Service collaborated on a $30-million pilot project to regularise electricity usage in seven inner-city communities in Kingston and St Andrew.

Under this initiative, homes were rewired and legally connected to the JPS main supply, providing residents with safe and reliable electricity access.

He noted that when the programme was launched in November 2014 by the PNP it was known as ‘Project Step-Up’.

Robinson said the programme was more than just a technical fix as it acknowledged that the issue of electricity theft required both technical solutions and social intervention.

“Because the reality is, you had to bring people with you — people who had not been paying electricity bills, to convince them that this was the right thing to do,” said Robinson.

“Minister, I have no issue with what you are proposing to do, but I think you have to revise the figures that you are proposing and you have to ensure that the social component of the intervention is important because that is the only way you can have sustainability,” added Robinson.

In her presentation on Tuesday, Williams announced that the Government has allocated $1 billion to assist the first 20,000 first-time JPS customers who sign up for pre-paid electricity.

She said the $1 billion will go towards paying for house wiring and inspection in order to get those with illegal connections legally and safely connected to the JPS grid.

Williams added that the first 20,000 new pre-paid customers will get $4,000 credit for electricity per month for six months as part of the Government’s effort to reduce electricity theft.