LOW INTERNATIONAL oil prices are behind a move by the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) to take a different tack with its initiative to facilitate the sale of surplus electricity generated from Barbados Light & Power (BL&P) customers’ distributed renewable energy systems.
The FTC rejected some stakeholders’ call for the setting of a price floor, that is, the lowest amount that can be charged, introducing instead a temporary fixed credit which it believes affords a level of price stability and certainty.
In a decision released yesterday, the regulator said the establishment of a Renewable Energy Rider (RER) credit, which takes effect from July 20, will offer RE suppliers a level of compensation such that generation remains economically viable in an environment of low oil prices.
“This approach deviates from what currently obtains,” it added, “as the existing RER credit is directly linked to the fuel clause adjustment (FCA), which is based on the BL&P’s oil purchase price and varies from month to month, without a specified minimum rate. (AB)
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