Despite the falling price of oil globally, the cost of fossil-fuel generated electricity in the Caribbean remain high.
“It’s killing us, and we look forward to any assistance that we can get in helping to lessen the cost of electricity. One would hope that with the cost of oil going down by leaps and bounds that we will see some sort of reflection on our bills,” said Keithly Phillip, chairman of the National Manufacturing Council.
As at February 10 the price of oil was down to US$28.36 per barrel, compared to roughly $54 in February 2015, and $104 in February 2014. The government is exploring all options to provide competitively priced electricity to the manufacturing sector, but the high cost of energy could undermine expansion.
Minister of International Trade, Industry and Commerce, Hon. Lindsay Grant, pointed to the removal of a Customs Duty on Green Energy products “to encourage sector investment in equipment and hardware to reduce fossil fuel energy in daily operations.” He added that the sector, one of the major contributors to the local economy, must make every effort to reduce production costs by making necessary operational adjustments. In St. Kitts, the commercial sector, for the first 50 kwh/kilovolt-amperes pays 80 cents per unit. For the next 75 per kwh/kva it is 76 cents per unit; for the next 100 kwh/kva it is 72 cents per unit, and for all units exceeding 250 kwh/kva it is 65 cents per unit.
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