KINGSTON, Jamaica — As mounting geopolitical friction and widespread supply chain disruptions send global crude oil prices climbing sharply, Jamaica’s leading private industry body is pressing the island nation to implement immediate, bold measures to insulate local consumers and enterprises from the growing threat of a cascading energy crisis.
In an official media statement released this week, the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) laid out the mounting risks facing the country: recent shipping disruptions in the critical Strait of Hormuz combined with targeted export restrictions have pushed benchmark oil prices to the threshold of $100 per barrel. Adding to these concerns, the International Monetary Fund has issued a warning that ongoing conflict in the Middle East could dampen projected global economic growth to 3.1% by 2026 and drive near-term inflation upward across most global markets.
For Jamaica, the risk is uniquely acute: the nation relies on imported fossil fuels to meet 80% of its total energy demand, leaving it extremely vulnerable to sudden price spikes and unplanned supply interruptions that could ripple through every sector of the local economy.
To buffer the country against what the PSOJ has termed an incoming “energy tsunami”, the organization has outlined a five-point actionable policy framework that prioritizes long-term energy resilience alongside short-term consumer protection.
First, the PSOJ urges the Jamaican government to publish its long-awaited 2024–2050 national energy policy, even in draft form, and immediately launch open, inclusive public consultations. This step, the organization argues, would provide much-needed clarity and confidence to both domestic and international energy investors, as well as give households clear guidance to plan future energy investments.
Second, the PSOJ calls for accelerated reforms to the country’s residential and commercial net-billing systems for distributed renewable energy. Key reforms suggested include cutting burdensome bureaucratic red tape, reducing upfront connection costs, raising existing capacity thresholds for net-billing participants, and requiring new distributed solar systems to include integrated battery energy storage to maximize reliability.
Third, the organization is pushing for resolution to ongoing delays in the country’s 100 megawatt renewable energy bidding round, while calling for lessons from that process to be applied to the current 200 megawatt request for proposal (RFP) to speed up large-scale renewable energy deployment across the island.
Fourth, the PSOJ encourages broad, multi-stakeholder consultations on the upcoming new national electricity license and broader energy sector transformation, with the dual goals of lowering end-user tariffs and attracting more private renewable investment.
Finally, the organization proposes a temporary two-year elimination or reduction of import duties on all electric vehicles (EVs), paired with a joint public-private consumer education campaign designed to speed up EV adoption across the country.
The PSOJ projects that if this full package of reforms is implemented rapidly, Jamaica can hit its stated target of generating 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, while also lowering retail electricity prices and strengthening long-term national energy security. The shift would also reduce the country’s reliance on imported fossil fuels, create a more attractive investment environment for clean energy projects, and improve government efficiency around policy implementation.
While the IMF projects that global inflation will see only a modest uptick in 2026 before returning to a downward trajectory in 2027, the PSOJ emphasized that emerging market and developing economies like Jamaica face disproportionate risk of eroding energy security if decisive action is not taken in the near term.
“Failing to act on this critical moment would represent a missed generational opportunity for Jamaica,” the statement read. “While this emerging crisis follows a familiar pattern of global energy price shocks, it also opens a critical window for Jamaica to build long-term energy resilience, advance its sustainable development goals, and diversify its domestic energy mix. The responsibility now falls on national leaders to act with urgency and clear purpose, turning the challenges of today into a solid foundation for long-term energy security and inclusive economic growth.”