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THE Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has said it has found no evidence that the meters installed by light and power company the Jamaica Public Service Limited are in any way inaccurate.
Speaking at a press conference this morning to provide an update on the findings of the probe which was launched at the end of August following widespread public outcry over escalating bills, former Director General of the OUR and lead investigator into the JPS billing system, JP Morgan, said as far as the investigation is concerned the “public can have every confidence” that the new meters are not the source of their problems.
Morgan also pointed out that the investigators unearthed areas of major weaknesses and recommended that they needed to be addressed by the utility company.
Speculations had been that the new meters were the reason for the recent spike in billing costs that customers are experiencing.
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THE Government has successfully renegotiated some of the terms of the Jamaica Public Service Company’s (JPS) electricity licence, the Ministry of Energy and Mining said yesterday.
The new terms of the licence, according to a news release from the ministry, will allow for the implementation of power wheeling, net billing and an increase in the level of renewable energy that can be added to the electric grid without being subjected to competitive tendering, the statement said.
Power wheeling is described in the news release as a self-generator generating electricity at one location and transporting it for use at another location for its own benefit.
The cost for the use of the electric grid and the price to be paid by the self-generator is to be determined by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR).
The introduction of net billing will allow JPS customers who produce electricity on a small scale to be paid for the electricity that they supply to the grid.
The licence’s new terms also allow for up to 25 megawatts of electricity from renewable energy generation, up from the previous limit of 15 megawatts, to be added to the grid without the need for competitive tendering.
“These new terms of the JPS’s licence will help Jamaica to achieve its fuel source diversification targets, facilitate investments in energy infrastructure, create employment in green jobs and positively impact the country’s macro-economic objectives,” the energy ministry stated.
The billing practices and policies of the utility company resulted in growing anger and islandwide demonstrations earlier this year.
Last month, Prime Minister Bruce Golding directed the OUR to carry out a detailed analysis of the costs and charges being imposed for electricity supplied by JPS to its customers.
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MINISTER of Energy and Mining Clive Mullings has called on the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) to immediately cease the installation of so-called smart meters and the policy of back-billing customers based on allegations of meter-tampering, until an investigation being conducted by the Office of Utilities Regulations (OUR) is completed.
Lawsuit filed names power company, OUR, Attorney General
A lawsuit aimed at busting the Jamaica Public Service’s (JPS) monopoly on islandwide light and power distribution was filed Friday in the Supreme Court.
The suit is being brought by a group of disgruntled JPS customers led by North Trelawny Member of Parliament Dennis Meadows and names as defendants the attorney general, the JPS and the Office of the Utilities Regulation (OUR).
In the suit, the claimants are seeking several declarations from the court, which, if successful, would revoke the JPS’s 27-year All-Island Electricity Licence, and open up the market to other players.
The licence was granted by then Mining and Energy Minister Bobby Pickersgill on March 30, 2001, pursuant to Section 3 of the Electric Lighting Act. The licence was in 2007 extended for a further seven years on the recommendation of the OUR, pursuant to Section 4 of the Office of Utilities Regulation Act.
But the claimants
RJR News
Note:
Please click above to see the bill and to read the NWC’s response to what the K Factor and X Factor charges are on your water bill. It was timely since today the Observer published the article below about a private water company wanting to raise clients bills in St Catherine up to 132%. Yes I wrote 132% but if JPS can get away with that type of billing why shouldn’t the water companies.
Hugh Wildman, the attorney-at-law representing a group of concerned citizens, says a class action suit is to be filed this week challenging the constitutionality of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) licence.
If you are a shareholder of JPS you are making killing while JPS kills the private sector with ridiculous energy bills. The Observer
As we are now back with our new company Solar Buzz Jamaica we look forward to again keeping you updated with the most current energy articles relating to Jamaica. Since we last left unfortunately not much has changed. Electricity has gone up, the JPS monopoly is still in place (now back by government), net metering/net billing is still not in place and businesses are not getting any help with high costs of energy bills. Not to mention government did not renew certain
