OfReg searches for more consultants
(CNS): The Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg) will be spending more public cash on consultants in the coming months after issuing two requests for proposals, one for a study on the value of solar energy to the country and the second for a new public relations agency. According to the regulator, the solar consultants will be required “to conduct a comprehensive value of solar study that independently assesses and determines Solar’s full value to society at large based on a holistic set of costs and benefits, in addition to the impacts to utilities and ratepayers”. The PR company is needed to improve OfReg’s own image.
The RFP on government’s website for competitive bids for public services said that the solar study is part of its “ongoing initiatives to foster grid modernisation, conservation of natural resources, preservation of environmental quality, and advancement of the National Energy Policy(NEP) goals”.
OfReg was created to monitor and regulate the rate, the price, conditions and provision of utilities, including electricity. And as the country begins taking baby steps towards the ambitious energy policy goals, solar generation is growing. The regulator said in the proposal that it must undertake this study to establish fair and equitable rates proportionate to the cost of generating renewable power.
The end result will be a report that provides an independent comprehensive evaluation and assessment of the net present value of long-term avoided costs and benefits of distributed solar generation using marginal concepts and incorporating test criteria from standard energy efficiency benefit-cost analysis in the local context, and recommend a way to calculate the net value of that for rate payers and society at large to inform the price tag.
The beleaguered agency has been frequently criticised for the money it has spent on consultants when the management team and cost of running the agency are already high and it has yet to achieve any of the goals that led to its creation in the first place. This latest request comes on the back of more recent controversies related to the fuel sector, including its delay in releasing details of leak at the fuel storage depot at Jackson Point and its efforts to protect gas station retailers at the expense of consumers over fuel quality.
Fighting a serious public image battle, the regulator has also issued a request for proposals for prospective bidders to submit non-binding proposals to provide public relations support services.
“The purpose of this solicitation is to perform an assessment of the office’s public opinion with the intention of improving its image,” the regulator said. “OfReg is seeking to provide a customer friendly environment while regulating stakeholders, we would like to be seen as professional and approachable.”
In addition to helping Of Reg with its public relations, the selected bidder will need to also monitor social media and prepare press releases.
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Category: Politics, Private Sector Oversight
I could run this country better doing an hour a day.
And I’ll work for free
I don’t know you. Anon 1:58 am,…… but I believe you!
Surely we need additional consultants to assist present consultants.
Whatever happened to the consultants from Hong Kong that was supposed to deal with fuel prices? (maybe i missed it )
So they need consultants to tell them what to do? What the hell is the point then of having these overpaid underqualified people at OFREG. Hey PACT shut this scam down before they bankrupt your gov.
More disingenuous bullshit from our “government”.
I say, “Follow the money” and you will see exactly who benefits from this.
You are correct, 5:43 am. I wonder if PACT has anything to say about this! We are still waiting for some kind of answer, PACT.
There is an organization in England that arranges for retired personnel to be seconded overseas. I cannot recall the name but the CIG used them in the 70/80s. It was a great idea and did not cost the CIG an arm and a leg. I suggest that the CIG reaches out to them again rather than employ local audit firms that themselves do not have the necessary credentials but will themselves important their own overseas experts but at a huge cost. I strongly suggest the CIG consults with our excellent Auditor General to seek her views.
You are living in the past, Mr Johnson. That organization ( BESOS or something) was used to put retired UK people into positions to do the jobs that locals couldn’t handle but the local got the job title, prestige and salary. So we had a guy called Witty or Whitty ( I think) doing the job of Customs and another one doing the job of Postmaster General because those appointed to the post were clueless. I recall Ezzard expressing approval for this scheme some years back when suggesting a local be appointed to run the Fire Service but with one of those old “furriners” brought in “ to provide support”. Surely we have moved on from those days?
This would be a great tool to help young ambitious Caymanians gain valuable experience from an accomplished senior. then again most ambitious young Caymanians aren’t in government.
You hit it, BESOS. Meanwhile have we moved on? It does not seem so. Perhaps you would care to make some constructive suggestions.
I don’t think the commenter 8.55 is capable of offering constructive suggestions; he seems to prefer the destructive kind.
Do some actual work and your image will improve! Shut this place down now!!!!
More consultants to do their jobs?? Shut them down now, PACT Government!
For a fee, I can recommend some consultants.
For a bigger fee, I can recommend even better consultants!
It is 1:17pm – Every single comment is GOLD here Jerry. Spot on, well spoken, perfectly stated – the lot of them.
Is anyone listening?? Does anyone care?
I hope so.
PACT!! Do the thing! This is just one of the reasons we got rid of PPM. Please show us that we have done the right thing.
Another failed private sector board. I know it hurts guys but you have to admit these entities worked much better when they were part of our civil service.
PACT shut Offreg down save the salaries that are paid to board members. Which are higher than some salaries for civil servants.
Make this stop!
Watch Tower get the pr contract thanks to the deputy chairman of OfReg.
Does anybody understand what a conflict of interest is in the Cayman Islands?
How many shares in local power generating operators does it take to get on the board of OfReg?
The only people hungry for more “lies du jour” are the liars that habitually serve them up to insulate themselves. That’s a symptom of corruption run amok, and we should all recognise its flavour by now.
11:45a – I love this comment so much.
The one below at 11:37a too.
OfReg recently hired consultants to review DER solar pricing. Then promptly ignored the professional advice given, determining that their own, unqualified, non professional, punitive rate should apply. So, down this rabbit hole we go again??
Same report produced with a different date; its the Govt and local Authorities way of “doing something”, then they just put it on the shelf and repeat again, over and over, and we expect a different result.
Another consultancy to prove what? That OfReg is a nuisance and menace to the country???
I can do that consultancy work, as it will take me a mere 2 minutes to write the final report. The findings would read: Inept and incompetent department who are not fulfilling their legal, moral and ethical obligations.
OfReg once again desperately trying to fool the Cayman public and trying to “spin” this to their own advantage to make it seem as if they’re actually being proactive and competent.
Here’s the actual facts on this:
1) CREA has been requesting OfReg do this since 2015 (then the ERA) and they have CONTINUALLY refused to do so.
2) OfReg is being “forced” to do this now because their own independent rate committee as well as the Government’s Energy Policy Council (EPC) approved this and budgeted to pay for it NONE of which came from OfReg.
3) When they were now forced to do this and the Government’s EPC agreed to pay for it, suddenly OfReg wanted to ‘control the process’ and have taken 6 months to draft a simple TOR/RFP document, something that should taken a week or two at most; all while they sit idly by taking their sweet time dealing with these issues as the loca solar industry continues to remain largely closed and jobs lost on a monthly basis due to OfReg’s negligence.
4) OfReg now issues this press release to make it seem like they are being competent and proactive when in fact they are being FORCED to do this, after 7 years of refusing tor or so, kicking and screaming the whole way.
5) OfReg said they had no budget for this but suddenly when the government/EPC paid for it they magically found the money and time to do so.
6) OfRegs management team are on record as holding the position that consumer renewable energy is NOT in the best interest of the Cayman Islands, despite that being false and against the NEP and law.
7) The government and the EPC should NOT let OfRegs management team control this process because the information that is most likely to come out as a result of a proper and unbiased study is going to destroy the OfReg management teams years long narratives around consumer renewables and expose the level of incompetence consistently displayed over there on this issue.
So don’t be fooled by this latest PR nonsense, these guys are being dragged to this kicking and screaming and have spent 7 years trying to avoid this and the last 6 months delaying it.
Just the facts. OfReg you can call me if you dispute any of the above, you have my number.
James Whittaker
President- CREA
While I agree with James that an analysis of the benefits and negative aspects of solar energy is a prudent exercise, there is already a plethora of information on the internet. Of course, a public agency or the government as a whole will want to have “official” and “unbiased” research to support its decisions. Still, there are many ways to obtain such information with minimal cost.
One way to do this is to search the internet and other business and scientific databases for such data. In only 20 minutes, I was able to find many extensive reports completed and accepted by corporate and governmental entities around the world.
Judicious use of internet search engines will yield all of the necessary information in due time. Believe me, most consultants do this and credit their colleagues on their “official analysis.”
Cayman should do the same.
@ Rodney Barnett, the OfReg management team have been presented with a mountain of information and data on this over the last few years from sources such as NREL/US Government Dept of Energy, Rocky Mountain Institute and many others; not to mention data from local companies here for in Cayman who understand the renewables industry at a far deeper level that OfReg does (yes that’s quite a sad statement but no less true) .
The OfReg management team have completely dismissed ALL of this data (claiming it is “unverified”) that doesn’t fit their desired “consumer renewables are bad for the country” narrative.
The issue is now that they are being forced to do this analysis (which they have for so long refused to do) we must ensure it’s carried out in a proper and transparent way and at this point there is no reason to believe that the OfReg management team should solely be in charge of this process; which again they have fought so long against and which is likely to refute their long held beliefs against consumer renewables.
Throw the bastards out! Why keep dicking around with them? You know they are not to be trusted. What have they done for the people of Cayman?
Very CREAdible James! I only wish that CREA had the clout and resources to take on the establishment in court over this idiocy.
This question is for the PACT cabinet – does the accountability you were elected to enforce extend to OfReg? There is no evidence of that at present.
So that everyone is clear, the Deputy Premier Mr. Sanders and Chief Officer Wesley Howell are supposed to be overseeing OfReg.
It has been clear for some time that OfReg is expensive, utterly useless and organised to act against the interests of the public rather than for the public. Unless Mr. Sanders and Mr. Howell stop this stupidity immediately people will see them as expensive and useless as well. Their choice.
How is it possible that no one at offreg can do a cost benefit analysis of solar? It’s really not that hard.
There are literally thousands of credible journals, research reports, scientific/NGO periodicals and interest groups open source publishing this info online, but Cayman policy-makers have to reinvent the wheel and replicate costs on everything – that is the cost and energy waste we should really be afraid of!
In fairness, those studies aren’t necessarily in relation to a small island system and won’t broadly translate in a cost-benefit analysis. Studies related to Hawaii are likely the only existing, relevant materials for reference due to the extent of their solar generation and similar infrastructural characteristics. Probably some good foundation to work with, though.
Seriously do you think there are no other “island” analysis reports in the public domain.
No, only just to point out the most valuable would be in relation to Hawaii. They would presumably, due to the maturity of the solar energy market there, also be able to show demonstration of actual value and externalities because the studies done 10 years ago could be compared to actual results up to today. Looking at regional counterparts, who are also in early stages of renewable adoption, may be contextually useful, but will be as equally unproven in their assertations.
In this case, we should all be following the data, rather than the money, no?
so glad we have no-plan-pact to sort out the ofreg nonsense…..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
1. OfReg’s poor public image is because it spends huge amounts of money without achieving anything. It’s solution is to spend more money without achieving anything. Genius!
2. Anyone who has to hire a consultant to do their job is unqualified for that job.
3. Anyone who has to hire a PR company to persuade the people that they are doing their job, isn’t doing their job.
4. The Unity gov spent $9 million on PR trying to persuade us that BS wasn’t BS. They failed and so will OfReg.
5. Dear Deputy Premier, please sort out this mess and stop this useless gush of public funds. I’m sure I’m not the only one who just threw up in a bucket.
Well said! Thank you.
Strange that you asked one of the few people guaranteed not to do anything about this cluster…..
Hon Deputy Premier can’t touch Linford – he is just not that powerful.
“…we would like to be seen as professional and approachable.”
Wouldn’t it be better if OffReg was actually professional and approachable, rather than just be seen as professional and approachable?
So PR is their concern? That says all we need to know about this useless bunch.
Confronting career ineptitude with media spin is a tired habit of the previous administrations, but not the solution to this problem. We need to clean house and start fresh with people that are qualified, competent, and seasoned to act as regulators: ie. actually regulating consumer value, health, and safety, per laws and regulations, and with capability and authority to root-out and sanction the MANY offending market participants. The advent of Consumer protection laws would be a nice start for this administration that promised such hopes.
‘Start fresh with people that are qualified, competent, and seasoned to act as regulators’
And aren’t related in ANY way to the current incumbents. Good luck with that. I’ll crack the funnies.
Offrig is suppose to be the people’s consultants. It’s like hiring a helper for the helper.👀
Maybe HSA can put out a RFP for someone to undertake a study to see if a balanced diet and exercise is good for our health.
Defo best comment here. Made me laugh. Thank you!
WTF! We already have report about solar and we have companies in cayman are experts about solar. SHUT DOWN THESE OfREG ASSH$@E PEOPLE!
is this a joke or just another day in wonderland????
why does nothing ever make sense around here……zzzzzzzzzzzzz
This reminds me of the early days when everyone was being sent on training courses as they had been hired without relevant qualifications. On top of this every time a report is required they hire consultants. Only in Cayman!.
PR consultants!!!! We are supposed to be happy with OfReg hiring people to make them look good despite all the sh!t!!!
Here is a way to save a lot of money and improve OfReg’s image – forget the consultants, fire everyone in the top 3 tiers of OfReg administration and hire competent people that have no conflicts of interest and put the public’s interest first.
Never mind all the hoopla……. Just get rid of OfReg!
It just doesn’t get any better than this. I thought that the Deputy Premier mention that the PACT would reduce the need of consultants. Why isn’t the government dealing with these regulators.
Another example of the standard strategy: study it to death, and at taxpayer expense, of course. And all for the purpose of delaying and denying for as long as possible the obvious value of solar energy. And why? To benefit their friends at CUC, of course, who don’t want the competition from solar. Naturally, this goes on at the same time that they loudly claim to be in support of the country going “green”. The reality just doesn’t match the rhetoric.
As long as it does not include a tax on sunlight.