The OUR approved, effective June 19, an annual inflation adjustment in keeping with the JPS 2001 Licence.
However, the inflation adjustment is expected to be offset by decreases in fuel charges and the revaluation of the Jamaican dollar against its United States counterpart. When combined, the inflation adjustment, the lower fuel charges and foreign-exchange rates are expected to result in a decrease of about 1.34 per cent on the bill of a typical residential customer using 200kWh per month.
reduction for large customers
The company indicated yesterday that a typical large commercial customer would see a reduction of approximately 2.35 per cent on his July bill, compared to bills received in June. June’s invoices will also reflect a modest decrease relative to May.
The OUR makes a determination on adjustments to non-fuel electricity rates to reflect changes in costs due to inflation and exchange-rate movement.
As a regulated entity, the JPS submits an application to the OUR each year for the inflation adjustment (outside of the years when a complete tariff review is done). The annual inflation adjustment is applied to the non-fuel portion of electricity bills.
Fuel costs account for approximately 60 per cent of electricity bills. The fuel charges on bills reflect monthly changes in the cost of fuel used to generate electricity. Over the last few months, the price of oil has been decreasing, moving from $17.635 per kilowatt-hour in January, to $14.836 per kilowatt-hour in June.
The positive trend in fuel price and exchange rate is projected to continue into July.