Rise of solar technology interest could force traditional utilities to change - CMI director

As more people turn to solar technology and other renewable sources to generate electricity, traditional utilities will be forced to change the way they operate.

That’s the word from Executive Director of the Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI), Dr Fritz Pinnock.

Pinnock says this has implications for the business models of traditional utilities in the Caribbean, such as the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) which must modernise their operations with new and efficient technologies.

The CMI executive director was speaking recently at the 2017 CARILEC Engineering Conference, held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, in St James. 

According to Pinnock, consumers of electricity are dramatically changing how they want energy generated and delivered to their homes and businesses. 

He says Caribbean utilities must therefore re-examine their own model of energy distribution and decide on how to respond to the growing trend of self-generation.