Regulation halts spread of electricity

THE current regulation and management of the electricity industry has resulted in little power provided to people in rural and remote areas, says Energy and Rural Infrastructure Minister Saki Soloma.
Soloma said the private sector needed adequate and regular electricity services to grow their businesses.
He referred to the National Energy Authority Bill 2020 and the Electricity Industry Act Amendment Bill 2020 approved by Parliament last week.
“The National Energy Authority (NEA) will be the paramount body for the management of the energy sector to deliver an affordable and consistent supply of electricity for commercial and industrial businesses, including power supply to proposed economic corridors, industrial zones, towns and cities,” he said.
“The NEA will ensure the development of all indigenous energy sources including hydro, gas, solar, geothermal, coal, wind, biomass and biofuel.
“PNG is rich in natural energy resources which can be used to produce electricity for domestic and commercial use.”
Soloma said the two new legislations established a comprehensive legal regime.
“The authority will be the one-stop-shop regulatory body of the electricity industry,” he said.
“The Electricity Industry Act 2002 amendments give all regulatory powers to the authority.
“This will stop the current untenable situation where the energy and electricity industry is very fragmented to the extent that certain Government industry players are not legally empowered to have full capacity or conflicted in performing regulatory functions.”
Soloma said the inconsistency in the maintenance of infrastructure or lack of funding for new infrastructure has resulted in serious challenges for the PNG Power Limited in the delivery of a consistent power supply around the country.
“The issue of aging PPL infrastructure is currently being addressed, through the national electrification roll-out plan,” he said.