Basseterre, St. Kitts (MoPIEUDT NEWS) – On Thursday, June 5, 2025, Pearl Williams, the Acting General Manager of the St. Kitts Electricity Company (SKELEC), updated the public on initiatives to facilitate the transition to clean and renewable energy and improve the reliability of its service. Among the updates Mrs. Williams mentioned were the creation of an Energy Transition Unit and a new AMI System.
Mrs. Williams gave the update at the semi-annual press conference of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Energy, Utilities, and Domestic Transport, and the Ministry of Information, Communication, Technology, and Post.
In her presentation, Mrs. Williams stated:
“We have introduced a new section within the company […] called the Energy Transition Unit and we have put one of our most senior managers to head up this unit in the person of Mr. Jonathan Kelly […] because we know the importance of moving our energy base from mainly fossil fuel to renewable energy.”
– Pearl Williams, Acting General Manager | SKELEC
Moving the energy base from fossil fuel to renewable energy, however, is not a solitary activity for SKELEC, but a series of interrelated activities that can collectively achieve that broad goal. Such activities include SKELEC’s investment in resources to maximize the output (0.5 megawatts) from the Basseterre solar farm and its strides in providing consumers a safe and regulated way to generate electricity and connect their small-scale, distributed, renewable energy systems to SKELEC’s grid.
Shifting her focus to SKELEC’s new AMI system, Mrs. Williams stated that the company’s investment would facilitate its data capture operations and, among other things, inform customers’ decisions about the types of components suitable for any renewable energy systems they may use.
Notably, Collin Williams, SKELEC’s Metering Manager, provided an apt definition of an AMI system when he appeared on the company’s Power Talk show on May 7, 2025. He defined an AMI system as follows:
“Infrastructure that allows [SKELEC’s] meters and […] anything that is enabled to communicate wirelessly to a central data point. In short, our meters can now call home (to SKELEC) and report their readings and any other measures that we set for them to send back to a centralized processing system, so it’s a network of meters with routers and a server room.”
-Collin Williams, Metering Manager | SKELEC
According to Mr. Williams, the new system improves on the existing system’s resilience. It will also rely on cloud storage – a feature that would facilitate the creation of backups.
Additionally, Mrs. Williams shared that the new AMI system also facilitates customers’ monitoring of their electricity usage with an associated app. Explaining that benefit to customers, Mrs. Williams stated:
“Once you take on the app, you can look at your usage [and] your energy profile. You can see what times you peak so you can efficiently maintain your use […] to reduce your bill.”
– Pearl Williams, Acting General Manager | SKELEC
Arguably, the most impressive feature of the new AMI system might be its ability to allow SKELEC to identify the customers affected by a power outage with improved specificity. This would replace the practice of approximating the affected zones based on internal knowledge of the infrastructure. The new level of precision would also improve the efficiency of SKELEC’s power restoration efforts.
Mrs. Williams explained:
“Right now, when there are power outages, we may know that there [is] a power outage in New Road, but we may not know that it extends just to Cedar Grove, or to Cedar Grove and Milliken. But [with the new AMI system], by looking at the meters which do not have power, you will be able to tell the exact radius, the exact area where you do not have power, and that will facilitate our guys [at SKELEC] in being able to connect faster.”
– Pearl Williams, Acting General Manager | SKELEC
The creation of the Energy Transition Unit and the introduction of a new AMI system are among critical advancements by the St. Kitts Electricity Company that indicate the company’s ongoing commitment to upgrading its operations and improving its service for its customers.
For more information, please view the entire press conference using the link provided and visit mopieudt.gov.kn and skelec.kn.
