Most government offices in the Marshall Islands began enforcing a new policy this week of closing by 3pm daily as a way to conserve fuel given uncertainties of fuel supply globally.

The move is to save energy and reduce the strain on the Marshalls Energy Company’s diesel fuel resources with both fuel shortages and skyrocketing prices seen on world markets due to the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran and its retaliation by closing the Strait of Hormuz to global shipping.

The 3pm daily closure directive for all non-essential government services was issued by the government’s cabinet on April 10 as an Emergency Electricity Savings Policy.

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Aside from the government office closure to reduce energy use, the emergency directive is expected to help the private sector through the mandate of government contracts for air conditioning maintenance and repair.

Government offices are expected to remain open during the lunch hour, allowing workers to operate seven hours daily instead of the usual eight.

A key provision about the shutdown of government offices by 3pm daily is that they are required to shut off air conditioners, lights and any other equipment drawing power. The aim is to reduce energy use by 30 percent over the 90 days of the emergency decree.

The 90-day emergency order mandates the Marshalls Energy Company, the government’s power utility company, to provide detailed monthly electricity bills to every government ministry, state-owned enterprise, and subsidised agency that detail each government offices power consumption compared to the 30-day period immediately prior to the emergency declaration.

Compliance ‘mandatory’
“Compliance with the 90-Day Emergency Electricity Savings Policy is mandatory,” the declaration said.

“The National Energy Authority will monitor the monthly MEC baseline reports to verify progress toward the 30 percent reduction goal.”

Various exemptions are made to the requirement of shutting down by 3pm daily. All essential services are exempted from the closure order, including public schools, the College of the Marshall Islands and Majuro and Ebeye hospitals.

Secretary of Health Francyne Wase-Jacklick said the ministry was specifically exempted so there would not be disruptions.

“So essential services remain ongoing,” she said. “Outpatient, maternal child health, immunization, public health programs, and rehab services will continue as usual, with only internal adjustments to reduce energy use where possible.”

As a consequence of the 3pm daily closure of all non-essential government/agency/state owned enterprise offices, government workers will be working only 30 hours each week. They will, however, continue to be paid for a full week of work.

The 90-day Emergency Electricity Savings Policy would accomplish two things, Finance Minister David Paul said this week

‘Skyrocketing’ fuel costs
It was “an opportunity to cut down on energy usage” (while it) ⁠⁠allows people to maintain their purchasing power,” he said.

Paul said the situation with skyrocketing fuel costs had caused “an affordability crisis — so it will be counterproductive if we are trying to address a problem while creating another one.”

This is why workers will still get their full paychecks, he said.

The new 90-day Emergency Electricity Savings Policy is likely to have a positive impact on the private sector.

The new policy directs the Ministry of Public Works, Infrastructure, and Utilities to implement an “immediate transition” to contracting out air conditioning cleaning and repair services to the private sector.

“Air conditioning constitutes the largest draw on the public power grid,” said the new government emergency policy. Performance and quality of air conditioners, therefore, had a big impact on their cost of power to operate.

Public Works “currently lacks the capacity to service all government units”, the policy said.

Transition maintenance
To resolve this, the ministry is directed to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to immediately transition maintenance responsibilities and facilitate the contracting of air conditioning cleaning and repair services to the private sector.

Further, the policy directs that “every government ministry, state-owned enterprise, and subsidized agency must allocate funds from their current budgets to hire private contractors for air conditioning repairs, maintenance, and cleaning.

While agencies are directed to transition maintenance to the private sector, they are also encouraged to explore all available avenues — including internal staffing or collaborative partnership with other agencies — to ensure units are serviced.”

A part of the emergency order requires that within the 90-day period of the order, “every agency must compile a complete inventory of their air conditioning units”.

They must also secure a maintenance contract and schedule to ensure filters are cleaned every two-to-four weeks. While physical cleaning of all units may extend beyond this 90-day window, the finalised contracts and schedules must be in place.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.