There comes a point with any major energy project when forecasts have to give way to actual performance. For Dominica’s geothermal plant, that point arrived on July 31st, 2026.
The plant has attained its Commercial Operation Date, or COD, following the completion of the required testing. The full Power Purchase Agreement between DOMLEC and the geothermal plant operator is therefore active, moving the project out of its testing phase and into commercial operation.
It is a development the Independent Regulatory Commission (IRC) has been waiting to see for some time.
Executive Director Justinn Kase described reaching COD as a milestone that had been “a little elusive” during the first five to six months of the year. With the reliability and other required tests completed, geothermal generation is now operating on the grid.
What interests the Commission now is not simply that the plant is operating, but what its operation produces for customers.
Kase expects geothermal generation to be reflected in reductions in monthly electricity bills. Dominica has long been vulnerable to changes in international fuel prices, and he believes geothermal can provide the country with some protection from those pressures by increasing the contribution of a domestic renewable source to electricity generation.
The IRC will therefore be watching the numbers closely. From this month through the end of the year, and possibly for a longer period, the Commission intends to monitor customer bills to determine whether the anticipated impact is occurring. DOMLEC’s revenues will also be monitored against the targets established during the tariff review.
Geothermal also forms part of a much larger national objective. Dominica’s National Energy Policy targets electricity generation entirely from renewable sources by 2030. Kase regards that target as ambitious, but achievable. He also draws attention to an aspect of the policy discussion that receives less attention: the expectation that electricity tariffs should become lower in succeeding years.
Reaching commercial operation does not, by itself, deliver every one of those ambitions. It does, however, change the nature of the conversation. Geothermal is no longer something whose customer impact can only be projected. Its contribution to the grid, electricity costs and customer bills can now be observed and measured.
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