Opposition Senator Criticizes Electricity Supply Bill 2024 as a Cosmetic Name Change, Urges Real Sector Improvement
Opposition Senator Andre Worrell criticizes the Electricity Supply Bill, 2024, for lacking innovation and similarity to the 2013 Electric Light And Power Act. Worrell emphasizes the need for effective policy implementation.
New Opposition Senator Andre Worrell was turned off by the Electricity Supply Bill, 2024, which was introduced to the Senate Friday by Minister of Energy and Business Development Senator Lisa Cummins.
In his return to the Senate, Worrell, who was appointed by Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne last month to replace Tricia Watson, charged that there was nothing new between the Electricity Supply Bill and the Electric Light And Power Act, which was passed in 2013.
“Even from the time I read it, I wondered why didn’t they just simply amend the 2013 legislation to include the one or two new pieces which are now in this legislation? Because when I read this legislation . . . it was almost like a bit of déjà vu. Because I said, well a lot of this looks very similar to the 2013 legislation . . . . That it is almost to try to rewrite history by giving the legislation a different title.”
He urged the Government not to give people “the false hope that changing legislation changes the reality within the sector”.
“The whole idea was that we had gone into this project to make Barbados more competitive, competitive in terms of electricity, and these are things that we must pay attention to. Not only when we are legislating, but when we are also implementing policy as well. So what we are doing here today is just a cosmetic change of name.”
Worrell pointed out that Cummins did not address the gridlock which had resulted in over 105 megawatts of renewable energy still waiting to get on the grid.
“This shows that we have a system that is not working,” he declared.
He added that changes in the policy had opened up the floodgates for larger solar fields “which more or less knocked out the average householder who wanted to get a three-kilowatt system on their roof or even a five-kilowatt system. Because now you have a solar field with 100 megawatts taking out that capacity from individuals . . . . You are now having a renewable energy sector where the average Barbadian, they do not see the benefit of it”.
In terms of the consideration for battery storage to be placed on the grid, the senator said this “would come at a significant cost which could result in electricity bills being increased by as much as $40”. (MB)
