Premier Wayne Panton has acknowledged serious capacity challenges facing OfReg as it oversees seismic shifts in the energy, fuel and telecoms sectors in Cayman.
The regulator has been a source of frustration for business leaders in almost every industry it is connected to, from fuel to telecoms.
Panton accepted that it was not as efficient as it needs to be and said he hopes to bring in outside expertise.
“OfReg is an issue that has to be resolved, there’s no denying that,” he said in an interview with the Compass.
Panton said he would like to bring in technical assistance, including either current or former officials from utilities regulators in the UK.
The range of concerns about OfReg is wide.
Meanwhile, the Caribbean Utilities Company and the Cayman Renewable Energy Association have differing views on how the island should transition to cleaner fuels.
In telecoms, businesses have argued that the regulator has been unable to resolve disputes over access to key infrastructure, slowing down the spread of high-speed internet access around the islands.
In the fuel markets, consumers continue to complain about gas price increases, though the regulator’s role in controlling this is not clear.
One of the core complaints in energy and telecoms is that the regulator has not been swift or efficient in its decision making.
“We need to seriously revamp OfReg and put in a position where you can make decisions,” said Panton.
“I think, right now, we’re not serving the interests of consumers of the country… We have too much of the legacy controllers influencing the outcome on decisions.”
The OfReg board, now led by Rudy Ebanks, has undergone some changes in membership under the new government and will soon get a new CEO following the unexpected departure of Malike Cummings.
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To be clear, while the Cayman Renewable Energy Association (CREA) ‘may’ have differing views on the future of energy in Cayman than the local utility; it should be noted that CREA’s views are in lock step with country’s National Energy Policy, which provides equal focus on accelerating rooftop solar, utility scale solar, energy efficiency and carbon emissions reductions to meet our policy targets.
— James Whittaker
President, CREA
Or just enforcing contracts/regulations. Like for internet fibre in EE or local programming on TV licence holders. Not following the rules should be automatic fines by, but without the need for much decision from, the regulator. The industries can then lobby the Cabinet to change the licence terms if they want to keep not living up to their obligations.