Zero Carbon Future for Grenada Hotels

April 27, 2012- Grenada Hotels Declare Energy Ambitions

St. George’s, Grenada – Russ Fielden, President of the Grenada Hotel and Tourism Association (GHTA) announced at the Sustainable Development Council meeting today that the business association will be pursuing a Carbon Free future and energy cost reductions for the sector. The Sustainable Development Council met to discuss Grenada’s prospects in the global Carbon Trading Market. The GHTA ambitions, dubbed by the GHTA as the ‘2012 Earth Day Declaration’ include a desire for Grenada Hotels: - To be the first zero carbon hotel sector in the Caribbean, if not the world. - Safeguard Grenada’s global competitiveness through an immediate cost reprieve on electricity prices until renewable conversion takes place - To support the development of the Eastern Caribbean Electricity Regulatory Agency (ECERA) by OECS Governments and the World Bank According to Mr. Fielden, Grenada’s electricity prices are among the highest in the world and this is making Grenada’s business environment very uncompetitive in an already limping global economy. As the GHTA sees it, failing to realize a cost reduction in electricity prices will spell disaster for Grenada’s already foundering economy. Renewable energy is one of the most cost-effective ways of reducing energy costs. The business association has come out strongly in support of liberalizing Grenada’s energy sector and for having an energy infrastructure that is 100% carbon free. This is because Grenada’s current electricity pricing means that a hotel must, by law, sell 100% of the energy their solar systems might produce and then GRENLEC will sell it back to them at nearly three times the cost. The GHTA acknowledges that GRENLEC clearly cannot manage an electrical grid if too many people are operating different electricity producing systems that feed into the grid, but the Association is confident and determined to see a hotel sector that is carbon free. The GHTA’s has retained Ethical Ideas Consulting Services to negotiate on their behalf to obtain grants, concessional loans, and negotiate agreements with other stakeholders. You can contact Jennifer Alexis through the GHTA office at 444-1353 or by emailing Jennifer Alexis at ethical.ideas@gmail.com