Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter
A three-member sub-committee on energy has been set up to refine the policies aimed at lowering the country
Kelly Tomblin: Small markets, breaking it up usually adds to cost.
Daraine Luton,
Downed Jamaica Public Service Company utility poles on Paradise Street in Kingston last Sunday wreaked havoc for Jamaicans in the city who were eager to watch the 100m finals at the London Olympics. The damage was attributed to wind from the outer bands from Tropical Storm Ernesto. – Rudolph Brown/Photographer
THE EDITOR, Sir:
No Olympics, no Independence. Thanks, Jamaica Public Service (JPS)! And while Digicel would like to boast of its islandwide coverage, perhaps both were working in tandem, because while JPS locked off the electricity on us for more than two days, every time the power went out we had little or no signal on our mobile phones.
We couldn’t even surf the Internet on our phones and had to use our car chargers to power our mobiles.
Quite frankly, we do not live ‘inna bush’, and this is certainly not the Ice Age, where ‘likkle breeze’ blows and we didn’t even get an opportunity to watch the Grand Gala activities on television. Oh, yes, Usain Bolt won the 100 metres race at the London 2012 Olympics in fine style. Our friends had to record and then send commentary of the race, via voice notes, on our phones, which took ages to get to us because the reception, all of a sudden, was also down.
Now, you may think this is all ranting and raving over nothing. But we are law-abiding and paying customers of the light and power company who have, over the years, had scant disregard for us.
All-island blackout
A friend of ours who was so distraught over the fact that we, after nearly 24 hours, were still without electricity, and the fact that we have a seven-month-old child did some enquiries. We were then informed that it was an all-island blackout, and parts of St Catherine, St Mary, Portland and St Andrew, where we live, were still to receive electricity – this at 11 p.m. on Monday, August 6.
This is an absolute SHAME and DISGRACE! Yes, we had battery-operated radios and flashlights, but what excuse will JPS give us now for what we call another heartless attack on us, and, by extension, Digicel!
We are not idiots, because we know the transmission towers are powered by electricity. But what about the backup? Come on, Digicel! If we had an emergency, were we to have used carrier pigeons or stand on our roofs and bellow for help!
This is the 21st century! The Office of Utilities Regulation needs to conduct a thorough investigation into what really happened. Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Philip Paulwell, we NEED some answers!
We shudder to think what if Tropical Storm Ernesto had really continued on its initial projected path, we would be looking at no electricity for weeks and, perhaps, months. Kelly Tomblin, JPS’s CEO, you are relatively new here in Jamaica, but we would like to know ‘wha really gwaan’ and ‘weh unnu plan fi do’ should we have another tropical storm or hurricane threat.
Albeit we are still in the hurricane season and at the very least August and September are the two most active months. Maybe we should resort to using ’tilley lamps’ or bottle torches as in the olden days.
Certainly we cannot afford solar energy like Minister Paulwell!
Keisha Hill
Stoney Hill, St Andrew
A Jamaica Public Service Company engineer at work – File Photo
The Office of Utilities Utilities Regulation (OUR) says it expects to get additional information from the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) by tomorrow as it probes the recent islandwide power outage.
JAMAICA Public Service (JPS) customers should start paying about 10 per cent less for electricity as of this month due to a significant decrease in the fuel charge on bills.
This month’s Fuel & IPP Charge of $16.748 is the lowest on electricity bills in more than a year, the light and power company has said. The Fuel & IPP Charge on August bills is $16.748 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), compared to a charge of $20.445 per kWh applied to bills in July.
At this month’s rate, the cost of electricity to customers is approximately US 32 cents per kWh.
For the average consumer who uses 200 kWh of electricity each month, this means that he/she will be paying almost $700 less for electricity in August, compared to the previous month.
This month’s reduction in Fuel & IPP Charge is due to a combination of factors the power company said in a release yesterday.
The Petrojam rebate for the overcharge on fuel purchased by independent power supplier, Jamaica Private Power Company (JPPC) is one reason. The others are a new efficiency target set by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) for JPS and an overall reduction in the cost of oil used to produce electricity.
The one-off Petrojam rebate of J$343 million (US$3.8 million), represents the overcharge on fuel to JPPC.
Also, starting this month, customers are expected to see the benefits of a new Heat Rate target, set by the OUR to ensure more efficient electricity generation. The lower Heat Rate target means that JPS will absorb more of the cost of inefficiencies in the electricity generation process, and pass on to customers the benefits of increased efficiencies.
According to the JPS release, customers have been benefiting from lower fuel charges on their bills since June this year, as a result of the recent downward trend in global oil prices.
Read more:
The price of oil dropped a bit Wednesday after three days of increases.
Benchmark oil fell 53 cents to $93.14 per barrel Wednesday in New York.
Oil prices had increased more than $6 per barrel since Thursday following a positive report on the US job market. In addition, quarterly earnings for many companies have been stronger than expected.
Yet, the overall economy continues to struggle, which has fuelled speculation that the Federal Reserve may take action to promote economic growth.
A stronger economy means more demand for oil and other energy products. Oil demand is better than it was earlier in the year but hasn’t recovered to year-ago levels, said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research.
Oil got a temporary boost Wednesday from a bigger-than-expected decline in US stockpiles. The Energy Department said oil inventories fell 3.7 million barrels last week to 369.9 million barrels. Analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had predicted a much smaller decline of 300,000 barrels.
But the economic news from Europe remains grim. The Banque de France said it expects the French economy to slip into recession in the third quarter. German industrial production and exports fell in June.
Traders will closely watch fresh economic data from China Thursday on inflation, factory production and retail sales. China is the world’s second-biggest economy and a huge importer of oil.
At the pump, the national average price of gasolene rose about one penny to $3.647 per gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and the Oil Price Information Service. That’s up nearly 27 cents from a month ago. It’s about two cents less than a year ago.
Brent crude, which is used to price international varieties of oil, gained 28 cents to $112.26 per barrel in London.
– AP
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120809/business/business1.html
The Jamaica Public Service Company, JPS has submitted its report outlining the reasons for the islandwide power outage on the weekend, to the Office of Utilities Regulation, OUR.
Corporate Communications Manager at the JPS Winsome Callum told RJR News that several factors contributed to the power outage.
She however declined to provide details, stating that a report on the matter was submitted to the OUR today.
Sections of the island were left in darkness between midnight Sunday and early yesterday morning.
The JPS said it would conduct a probe to determine the cause of the system failure.
http://rjrnewsonline.com/news/local/jps-submits-report-islandwide-blackout
The selection of a preferred bidder for Jamaica’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure is starting to attract more controversy. The Korean firm Samsung was recently announced as being selected as the preferred bidder but
Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell
Arthur Hall, Senior News Editor
The Government‘s long-touted plan to push down the cost of electricity for Jamaicans with the introduction of liquid natural gas (LNG) has hit yet another snag.
The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has requested further information from the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS) as it probes Sunday