The ever-accelerating rate at which technology changes challenges everyone, but perhaps lawmakers more than most.

The process of writing and passing laws and regulations can be time-consuming and complex. By the time legislation has been written to govern fair use of one technology, its successor can be breathing down legislators’ necks. It is clear, though, that if we try to continue to do things the way we’ve always done them, we’ll fall farther and farther behind, and Bermudians will be prevented from receiving the full benefit of the technology bonanza that progress is bringing to the world.

And so I wonder if the country realises the importance of the new Electricity Sector Policy document that Economic Development Minister Grant Gibbons tabled in the House of Assembly earlier this month. It is a completely new framework… a blend of policy, legislation and regulation that will give us the ability to grab hold of the future by integrating new technologies and energy sources into our ‘power grid’ quickly and easily.

What does this mean for Mr and Mrs Bermuda? First, cleaner power, because reliance on oil and diesel will be reduced. Second, the ability to produce and sell power back to Belco, through wind and solar power applications. Third, a reduction in the rate at which the price of power grows, through new technologies and more effective regulation.

If you’re interested, you can read a copy of the new Policy on the Ministry of Economic Development’s website, on its Energy page, at http://www.energy.gov.bm/portal/server.pt.

The aim of this document is to create, in Bermuda, a world-class regulatory regime that will ensure that the people get high-quality electricity service that is delivered at the lowest possible financial cost.

In order to do that, a new Electricity Act (expected to be tabled in the legislature during this session) will transfer oversight of this sector from the Ministry and the Energy Commission to the Regulatory Authority which, since its inception early in 2013, has had remarkable success in overseeing the telecommunications sector.

This new legislation will grant Belco exclusive responsibility for managing the grid (transmission and distribution — but not generation), in return for being subject to more rigorous oversight by the Regulatory Authority. Generation will be subject to greater competition through an Integrated Resource Planning process that will be supervised by the Regulatory Authority with public and stakeholder input.

The Policy will also enable independent power producers, home owners and commercial entities to produce and sell excess solar-generated electricity to Belco, using technical standards and power-purchase agreements that have been designed and approved by the Regulatory Authority.

The Government believes that by 2025, 35 percent of electricity generated in the country could come from renewable energy. It expects that 4 percent will come from solar panels, 2 percent will come from solar water heating, and 3 percent from the conversion of waste to energy. The remaining 26 percent, it says (with a tip of its hat to the pace and intensity of technological change), could come from ocean-based renewable energy technologies that are not yet broadly available, but that will be developed and brought into use in the next few years.

The new Policy document predicts that LNG (liquefied natural gas) will provide a bridging fuel to replace the current diesel and heavy fuel oil generation, while solar panels and solar water heaters will become increasingly important over time as better and cheaper energy storage technologies become available.

Government believes that Bermuda’s energy demand can be reduced through greater efficiencies in air conditioning, lighting, refrigeration, building machinery and through passive cooling, using techniques such as insulation and window tints.

The new policy document predicts that the cost of electricity supply in the technology future it intends to build will be lower than it would be if Bermuda simply carried on generating electricity in the way it has always done.

It’s an exciting and important document that sees an energy future of revolutionary possibilities with a plan that positions Bermuda to embrace that future for maximum benefit.

•Vic Ball is a Government Senator