#BTSpeakingOut – Consider mini-power grids

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by Michael Ray

The chickens have come home to roost.

Some years ago when this letter-writer had an issue with the Barbados Light & Power Company, it was drawn to both the company and the regulator that the “buy all/sell all” arrangement was disadvantageous to residential renewable energy (RE) producers.

The disadvantage was simply that RE producers were not allowed to take advantage of the energy they were producing other than selling it directly to the utility company. 

The flawed regulation allowed the utility company to purchase renewable energy from individual producers, with the company selling energy back to producers at a higher price. This regulation and arrangement negatively affected the return on investment of small private producers whose systems were labelled and designated as “grid-tied”.

Producers whose systems were fitted with a battery storage system had no such difficulty because they were not tied to the company’s grid and were able to utilise all of what they produced. Lo and behold, the utility company is now declaring that they are unable to “buy all” because the grid is close to full capacity.

Is this not a breach of the original regulations related to the production, sale, and distribution of renewable energy?

Unless regulations governing renewable energy are streamlined with balance and equity for all stakeholders, then the Barbados National Energy Policy (BNEP) is doomed to fail.

It would be a great idea to construct a series of mini-community grids in the various residential areas and abandon the current arrangements with the utility company. 

If Barbados Light & Power Company is unable to abide by the regulations set out by the Fair Trading Commission, then the private sector in conjunction with the government should ensure that the goals of the BNEP are achieved by the utilisation of mini-community power grids.

The national plans and economic development of Barbados should not be derailed as a consequence of the business models and policies undertaken by locally operating multinational corporations.