By John Denny Observer Reporter
(Charlestown, Nevis) ” With the drastic drop in the price of oil, the Nevis Island Administration has decided to reduce the fuel surcharge on electric bills, according to an address by Junior Minister for Utilities and Natural Resources Carlisle Powell. The address was given last week at the budget session of Parliament. Other points covered in his address included the transition to diesel generation to geothermal and the newly appointed Electrical Commissioner, Hugh Charles. “In December, the surcharge will fall from .41 to .28 for commercial [customers] and .28 to .14 domestic [customers],” said Minister Powell. “Madam President, during 2009, NEVLEC will position itself to provide a more reliable power supply.” It is our aim to reduce our total dependence on oil. In this vein NEVLEC will foster partnerships with renewable energy generators like West Indies Power and Windwatt.” When geothermal energy becomes available, a new transmission line of over 10 megawatt capacity will need to be built to transmit the geothermal power to the power station for distribution. The interconnection systems and the control systems will also become necessary and in time a submarine cable will also be necessary to facilitate sale of power to St. Kitts, said Minister Powell. With the delays in bringing geothermal on line and the present diesel generators aging, Mr. Powell said buying another diesel generator would be prudent. “”We continue to evaluate the NEVLEC generators.” The industry standard is that if the largest generator set is down for overhaul and the next largest set fails, the plant should still meet its peak load which in our case is 9 megawatts. Some of the engines are old and the Genertek engine which was bought under questionable circumstances is moody. The CDB engineers and our own staff have agreed that even with renewable energy, in order to meet projected demand growth and in order to retire older less efficient generators, it would be advisable to purchase one 3 megawatt generator,” he said. Electricity theft and an aging transmission grid are also things Mr. Powell’s Ministry hope to remedy. “Madam President, NEVLEC will also aggressively pursue loss reduction and efficiency.” We are aware that some of the power generated is lost and we will rehabilitate and upgrade the older parts of the system.” We are also convinced that some losses are due to people stealing current.” Therefore, starting in January, NEVLEC personnel will visit every meter on the system and upgrade and seal them. Our staff will look for signs of tampering and where this is found we will take action against offenders. “Where disconnections are not followed by timely requests for reconnections, our staff will check for meter bypass. Where meter tampering and or meter bypass is found the service line will be completely removed and action will be taken against the offenders,” he said. Reconnection will only be granted after the outstanding amount, reconnection fee, estimated cost of power consumed during the bypass, $500 deposit and a $500 fine have been paid. Nevlec will also move to disqualify from practicing any electrician facilitating current theft, the minister said. In an attempt to modernize the enforcement of building codes, the Ministry has established the office of Electricity Commissioner. “We did this because there is danger to life and property inherent in the use of electricity,” he said. “It is urgent that the electrical code and regulation be enforced to regulate the business of installing, altering or repairing for electrical light, power, signaling, communication, alarm, voice, video” and data transmission on the island of Nevis and the licensing of all persons who engage in this profession.” The Electricity Commissioner will seek to harmonize the profession with the introduction of classifications, a training program for all levels of practical experience with examination to any categories.” The licensed categories are: Master Electrician: will enable this person to perform any kind of electrical work. Special Electrician: a non transferable license for institutions, example hotels, hospitals, plants. Residential: Residential electrical work only. Commercial: Commercial electrical work only (Factory). Low Voltage: Fire Alarm, Security, Voice, Video, Data and Fiber. Journeyman: A non contractor license which enables one to work for any contractor. Trainee: Any person or persons employed by an electrical contractor and enlist in the two year training program (Paid program). A board will be appointed to determine the fitness of all applicants for licenses.” Proposed Training: The initial training will be based on the Building code #7 of 2000 and the Physical Planning Ordinance #1 of 2005. All other electrical training will be based on the recommendations from N.F.P.A (National Fire Protection Association) in their International Electrical Code Sseries #70 Certification: Certification will be of two kinds, one issued by the Ministry in conjunction with the Department of Education of the NIA and the other by a foreign training facility.” This training would be given on Nevis by certified electrical instructors, approved by the institution. Effective January 2009, all electrical work performed on the island on or after such date except that a transition period commencing on Jan. 1, 2009 and ending June 30, 2009 must be performed in accordance with the St. Kitts- Nevis building code # 7 of 2000 and the Physical Planning Ordinance of the Nevis Island administration. Inspections will now be performed by a team of inspectors from the Ministry and not by NEVLEC.” All applications for inspection should be addressed to the Electricity Commissioner’s office effective Jan. 1 2009, said Minister Powell.
