THE EDITOR, Sir:
I am surprised and concerned at comments attributed to both Opposition Spokesman on Energy Gregory Mair and president of the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association, Brian Pengelley, in
THE Jamaica Public Service says it will be investing more than
US$5 Million this year in critical information technology infrastructure as part of efforts to improve the quality of service it provides.
|
Ian Wray (right), director of account management at Ventyx, signs the partnership agreement for new customer service IT systems, while Gary Barrow (left), the Jamaica Public Service Company
THE EDITOR, Sir: The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) is losing more than U$30 million each year to electricity theft. In recent months, the company has been desperately trying to remove illegal connections islandwide. But as soon as the JPS van drives off and turns the corner, the wires go back up again! Unfortunately, the burden of stemming this theft has been left up to the power company. But this should really be a problem for our police, as JPS is in the business of electricity production, not law enforcement. However, there is obviously a lack of political will to tackle the problem head-on. Honestly, there is no way many of these people can pay the actual cost of electricity. And the prime minister is particularly concerned about the plight of the nation’s poor. So, why not have an interim inner-city electricity rate? This could be a fraction of the actual cost. Many will scoff at this idea. But collecting something is a lot better than collecting nothing. It would be a win-win-win: The Government would save face with the ‘poor’. Paying customers would pay less. JPS’s 14 per cent loss to theft would be cut. One thing is certain: the
Kelly Tomblin
Arthur Hall, Senior News Editor The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) is imploring the government to speedily make a decision on which entity will be given the job of supplying the country with 360 megawatts (MW) of power to replace the aged and inefficient generating plants now operating. The company is one of four bidders for the right to supply the electricity based on a request for proposals issued by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR). The OUR is expected to make its selection and recommendation to the Cabinet within the next 30 days. Move now But even as the OUR continues its deliberations and seek clarifications from bidders, JPS President and CEO Kelly Tomblin is urging the State to move now to get the ball rolling. “At this point we are desperate for lower energy prices, and if we (JPS) are not going to be the entity that builds it, let somebody else build it,” Tomblin told
Kelly Tomblin, CEO of the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Company, may have been bit a melodramatic. For thieving electricity consumers, as draining as they are on the company, and as difficult as they make her life, mask the larger problem faced by the light and power provider – and Jamaica. For electricity theft in Jamaica is symptomatic of more fundamental issues, among which are the Government’s failure to advance and implement a clear energy policy; its ‘outsourcing’ of elements of its social welfare programmes; and the JPS’s own failure, over a long time, to adequately invest in the technologies to allow it to operate as efficiently as possible in a market it says it wants to be in. Which, of course, doesn’t derogate from the facts presented, or the logic of the argument advanced by Ms Tomblin last Friday. JPS’s inability to adhere to agreed debt-to-earnings ratios potentially imperils its relationship with its lenders and could, as their auditors pointed out in their review of its 2012 accounts, present a risk to the company “as a going concern”. Reducing the 14 per cent of electricity that is stolen would be an inherently good thing. It would enhance the viability of the power company, as well as ease the burden on those consumers who now pay. But there is another pertinent matter which the Government and the JPS must address squarely. The estimated US$30 million, or nearly J$3 billion, lost to the thieves is a sum inflated by policy failures and inefficiencies. Faced with this fact, a serious government would end the dithering over what fuel is to be used to generate electricity, as well as conclude the becalmed bids for new power plants. Nothing, though, gives us confidence that this will be the case. Cheaper fuel is essential The fact, however, is that the electricity produced from expensive oil at US 41 cents per kWh is unviable for Jamaican firms and domestic consumers. Cheaper fuels and modern power plants are essential. Procrastination by the Government in giving policy directives on the former, and JPS’s failure to act on the latter when that was in its purview, helped to create today’s crisis. Further, Jamaica’s perennially weak economy, with its high rates of joblessness and underemployment, means that electricity, at its real cost, is beyond the effective demand of many consumers, who nonetheless have expectations of it. So, they steal it and have, in the process, been enabled by the Government, as was all but admitted by Roger Clarke, the agriculture minister, in relation to whole communities on sugar estates that were allowed to tap into government entities for their electricity. This is, at once, reflective of a kind of blind-eye social welfare and a breakdown of law and order. Theft becomes normal. Attempts to break the cycle often erupt in violence. It is obvious that Jamaica must get on with the policies and projects that will lower electricity tariffs. The Government, too, must have the will to address the thievery. It is also in the JPS’s interest to invest in the smart technologies that make the stealing of the product difficult. These are the kinds of things that firms sometimes have to do to survive in a market. And sometimes are made to do as monopolies in regulated markets. The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published. Read more:
THE Jamaica Public Service (JPS) says it has sought the assistance of the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) and the Government in crafting strategies to deal with electricity theft in a more effective manner. “The root of the problem is crime and poverty, and no technological solution is going to fix that,” said JPS President and CEO Kelly Tomblin, in addressing questions regarding the failure of the recently implemented Resident Advanced Metering Infrastructure (RAMI) system to eradicate electricity theft.
|