Praneeta Prakash 
[Photo: FILE]
The Public Works Ministry through the Department of Energy is planning to review its electricity laws to allow more private companies to generate power and supply it to Energy Fiji Limited.
This was revealed by Acting Deputy Secretary of Operations at Energy Department Mikaele Belena during International Talanoa on Transition, Mineral Mining, and Development Justice at Fiji National University.
Increasing private sector participation remains a core part of national energy policy.
“I understand that they were supposed to have agreed for independent power producers. To, you know, to make sure that we have adequate or sufficient electricity. The plan for government in yes, I used to work for government, so I’m just wondering where has that discussion gone to? Because right now we still have a monopoly and electricity costs are just.”
Acting Deputy Secretary of operations at Energy Department Mikaele Belena says the review is a step toward creating a more transparent and structured framework.
“we are actually looking at the regulation with our electricity act and see we’re doing some work on that in terms of getting out review to see how we can ensure the participation of private sector in a more transparent manner.”
He adds that with government intervention, they are trying to address that and see the equal distribution of or the participation of private sector in the sector. So that is something that is currently in the pipeline.
The review is a step toward creating a more transparent and structured framework that encourages investment while maintaining oversight of the national grid.
