National Water Commission Archives

Compensation For NWC, JPS Consumers Spikes To $21m

June 20, 2013 jrobinson

The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) said it has caused J$21.15 million to be credited to the accounts of customers of the island’s two main utilities during the past year.

The money was credited to the accounts of customers of the National Water Commission (NWC) and the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) during the period June 2012 to May 2013, the OUR said in a statement yesterday.

The figure dwarfed the $1.19 million secured on behalf of customers during the June 2011 to May 2012 period. The OUR said the sums secured during the past year represents an increase of more than 1,600 per cent.

The OUR said the money was secured as a result of appeals done by the regulator on the behalf of customers. However, the nature of the main complaints against the companies was not obtained byWednesday Business

JPS Blamed For Water Woes

April 18, 2013 Webmaster

Debbie-Ann Wright, News Editor – Radio

The National Water Commission (NWC) is advising that frequent fluctuations in the power supply to the Tulloch Springs/Rio Cobre Water Supply System is affecting service to customers in Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine.

The company says the power supply interruptions have worsened the impact of the prolonged drought.

It says the mechanical failure at one of the sources has resulted in a shortfall of more than 3 million gallons of water each day on the Tulloch Springs/Rio Cobre Water Supply System.

It says some customers in Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine either have no water, intermittent supply or are experiencing low water pressure.

The areas affected include sections of Portmore, downtown Kingston, communities off Washington Boulevard, Molynes Road, and Spanish Town Road.

The NWC says the problem has been reported to the Jamaica Public Service and work is being done to return to normal operation in the shortest possible time.

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JPS News

JPS Blamed For Water Woes

April 18, 2013 jrobinson

Debbie-Ann Wright, News Editor – Radio

The National Water Commission (NWC) is advising that frequent fluctuations in the power supply to the Tulloch Springs/Rio Cobre Water Supply System is affecting service to customers in Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine.

The company says the power supply interruptions have worsened the impact of the prolonged drought.

It says the mechanical failure at one of the sources has resulted in a shortfall of more than 3 million gallons of water each day on the Tulloch Springs/Rio Cobre Water Supply System.

It says some customers in Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine either have no water, intermittent supply or are experiencing low water pressure.

The areas affected include sections of Portmore, downtown Kingston, communities off Washington Boulevard, Molynes Road, and Spanish Town Road.

The NWC says the problem has been reported to the Jamaica Public Service and work is being done to return to normal operation in the shortest possible time.

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Government News

Government aims to slash light bill by J$2b

February 27, 2013 Webmaster

I would not feel dissed if you dress like we are in a tropical climate. – Paulwell

The Government aims to slash its J$13-billion annual light bill by some 15 per cent across the public sector in part as a precondition of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan agreement.

The savings would amount to approximately J$2 billion per year.

“We as a Government spend $1.2 billion per month on electricity … up from $500 million a month in 2008,” said Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell at the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce energy forum Tuesday.

“It is a critical component of the IMF agreement to reduce our electricity bill and we will have to do so by specific amounts.”

In furtherance of this condi-tionality, the energy ministry has assembled a team led by project manager Richard Gordon to implement a programme rooted in National Energy Conversation and Efficiency Policy 2030.

The policy, developed since 2006, aims to reduce Jamaica’s dependence on fossil fuels via conservation, implementation of diverse fuels and green energy into the mix.

15 per cent target

Paulwell declined to reveal the level of reduction required as a conditionality of the IMF. However, Gordon, an engineer by profession, told the forum that “we would like to see a 15 per cent reduction”.

A sizeable chunk of the Government’s energy bill relates to the National Water Commission, which requires energy to run its pumps at some J$6 billion annually. Street lights cost the Government some J$3 billion annually.

The energy-conservation project focusses on government offices and street lights. It involves more than simply replacing incandescent lights with efficient LED lights. Other measures include coating roofs with heat-reflective paint to reduce heat by 40 per cent; in conjunction with improving interior insulation aimed at reducing air conditioning by some 20 per cent.

“We will also be relaxing the dress code at ministries where you might not have to wear one of these,” Paulwell said, pointing to his tie. “Guayaberas and bush jackets for men would be appropriate. I would not feel dissed if you dress like we are in a tropical climate.”

Gordon said the energy policy estimated that US$100 million of spending on conversation projects throughout Government would have provided a return on investment in 2.5 years. It was not immediately clear the actual budget for implementation of the project.

“Energy efficiency is a growth area in the economy. If you have US$0.30-US$0.40 per kilowatt-hour for electricity, it provides you an opportunity to make a bankable proposition to your financiers to reduce energy. And through the saving you can easily pay off that loan,” Gordon said.

steven.jackson@gleanerjm.com

Power Wheeling Programme Must Include Solar And Wind

January 28, 2013 Webmaster

Shakuntala Makhijani , Guest Columnist

By Shakuntala Makhijani , Guest Columnist

Last month, electricity regulator, the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), released recommendations for Jamaica‘s anticipated electricity wheeling programme.

Electricity wheeling has been proposed in Jamaica as a way to promote distributed power generation, especially from renewable-energy sources.

Under the proposed wheeling programme, a company or individual could generate electricity in one part of the country and pay the grid operator – the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) – a fee to transport that power to another location where it will be used.

Because JPS currently has a monopoly on electricity distribution, a company would only be able to send electricity over the grid to be consumed at a location that it also owns. For example, a sugar company that generates electricity at a sugar refinery using bagasse can send excess power to its offices in Kingston to avoid paying high electricity bills there, but cannot sell electricity to another entity.

Several of Jamaica’s large energy consumers are considering participating in the forthcoming wheeling programme to support investments in renewable energy.

Hotel chain Sandals, the Caribbean’s largest poultry producer Jamaica Broilers, and the National Water Commission, the largest single electricity consumer in the country, all have plans to wheel power.

A National Irrigation Commission project using wind energy to power irrigation pumps also wants to participate in the programme.

Only for firm generation capacity

At a recent public consultation, however, OUR officials confirmed that the electricity wheeling programme will be intended only for firm generation capacity – meaning it will exclude variable renewable-energy sources such as solar and wind.

Electricity wheeling provides an opportunity to promote distributed renewable generation, especially at the large commercial or industrial scale (more than 100 kilowatts to several megawatts).

For this reason, Worldwatch has submitted a public comment to OUR recommending, based on our research in renewable energy transition in Jamaica, that the regulator reconsider its exclusion of variable capacity and open the electricity wheeling programme to all renewable-energy sources.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller‘s administration has publicly committed to the ambitious goal of 30 per cent renewable energy by 2030. In our view, the Jamaican government has every reason to ensure that Jamaica can meet these targets by allowing all renewable-energy sources to participate in programmes, such as electricity wheeling.

For its own economic development, Jamaica’s Government would be well advised to mandate that the utilities regulation office and the national utility continue and expand ongoing efforts to strengthen Jamaica’s national electricity grid in order to accommodate new, variable renewable generation in accordance with national targets.

In the meantime, however, Jamaica’s electricity generation mix is dominated by diesel and fuel oil – and planned liquefied natural gas capacity – which can be rapidly fired up or down in response to variable renewable generation and changes in electricity demand.

So long as JPS and OUR undertake precautions to address grid congestion, voltage regulation, and other issues associated with distributed generation, Jamaica’s grid should be capable of integrating variable renewable capacity through the wheeling programme.

Commercial and industrial-scale renewable electricity generation is a cost-effective way to meet the Jamaican Government’s renewable energy targets.

Fees should be an incentive

Electricity wheeling should, therefore, include variable-generation capacity in order to promote development of solar and wind-energy technologies at this scale.

For this to be successful, it is critical that regulators assure that fees are reasonable enough to insure that distributed generators will have an incentive to participate in the programme.

Guidance from the regulatory office is also needed to clarify eligibility criteria for a single entity under the wheeling programme. For example, if the Sandals resort chain participates in a wheeling programme, why should it not be allowed to send electricity generated at one resort to another? However, each resort in the Sandals chain is registered as a separate entity, creating uncertainty as to whether such use of the wheeling system would be permitted.

Resolving this issue before electricity wheeling guidelines are finalised will help avoid potential delays and allow ready projects to be implemented on schedule.

As Jamaica’s electricity regulator, it is the responsibility of the utility regulatory office to ensure that the national electricity grid is prepared to accommodate the new renewable electricity capacity – both firm and variable – needed to meet the Government’s 30 per cent target.

Given the high cost of the current petroleum-based electricity system and the country’s strong renewable-energy resources, Jamaica can transition to a secure and reliable renewable-energy system while still reducing electricity costs for consumers.

The Worldwatch Institute is currently finalising a Sustainable Electricity Roadmap for Jamaica that details Jamaica’s abundant renewable energy potential and recommends grid integration and policy solutions for reliably harnessing these resources to help achieve the country’s long-term sustainable energy goals.

Shakuntala Makhijani is a representative of Worldwatch Institute, which is currently working on sustainable energy roadmaps for the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica. mkonold@worldwatch.org business@gleanerjm.com

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JPS News

JPS Shocks Public Sector

November 19, 2012 Webmaster

Irregular power supply wreaks havoc with equipment

Several public-sector entities are now reporting damage to expensive equipment because of surges in the electricity supply from the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS).

The power surges have left some entities nursing hefty repair bills, while they await compensation.

Among those hit hardest are hospitals, whose existence depend on sufficient electricity to keep life-saving equipment running.

The JPS has admitted that there have been complaints and claims for compensation from public entities such as hospitals but it has refused to provide details.

But checks by

JPS News

Kudos To The JPS

November 6, 2012 Webmaster

When Hurricane Sandy tore through Jamaica on October 24, many expected that the Category One winds would have immobilised the country’s infrastructure and severely interrupt commerce.

Refreshingly, many businesses were up and running the very next day. Vital to the safety and economic well-being of any country post-disaster is the restoration of electricity and other essential services.

The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), in concert with other agencies such as the National Water Commission and the National Works Agency, accelerated the process of recovery admirably so that the country’s commercial life was not crippled.

Many Jamaicans grew impatient, but the majority recognised that these crews were working for many continuous hours.

The Sunday Gleaner’s tribute to the JPS team, calling them ‘Unsung heroes’, was well deserved. Work crews certainly went beyond the call of duty, often without regard for personal circumstances. We offer sincere condolences to the family of the worker who was killed in St Ann.

Reliability is one aspect of utilities that few appreciate until they are not there. The country should show its gratitude to these dedicated men and women in a fitting manner.

When the performance of JPS is pitted against the better-resourced United States (US), it is interesting to note that approximately 1.4 million homes and businesses in New York City, New Jersey and Connecticut remain in the dark, without heating, a week after the storm strengthened and roared ashore.

Jamaicans accustomed to being battered by hurricanes appear to have learnt the hard lessons of disaster recovery. Perhaps the US will also learn the hard way.

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Government JPS News

Census Highlights Power Gap – Consumers Outnumber JPS Customer Base By More Than 200,000

October 22, 2012 jrobinson

A JPS technician at work. – File

Over 805,000 households in Jamaica or 91.3 per cent of the total captured in the 2011 census of population and housing, use electricity as a source of lighting.

The number is more than 200,000 bigger than the customer base of the country’s sole transmitter and distributor of electricity, the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), which puts the number of clients on its books at under 600,000.

Responding to the findings, JPS Head of Corporate Communications Winsome Callum said the gap “probably an indicator of the number of households that are using electricity illegally”.

According to the census, a not insignificant number of the total 881,078 households captured under the study – 48,629 – use kerosene as their source of lighting. Other sources of lighting not specifically identified are used by 7,515 households, while 19,635 did not report a source.

As expected, St Andrew households are the largest consumers of electricity with 184,176 having access; followed by St Catherine where 151,865 households are powered, Clarendon with 68,286 households having access, St James with 56,403, and Manchester where power penetration is across 54,125 households.

Of the total number of households, 80 per cent or 705,235 use liquid petroleum gas (LPG) as a source of fuel for cooking; 15,803 or 1.8 per cent use electricity for that purpose; 8.9 per cent or 78,700 use wood; and 6.1 per cent or 53,876 use charcoal. Less than one per cent or just 94 households use biogas; and only 25 households use solar energy – suggesting that the use of renewables in Jamaica is still in the infancy stage.

The five largest concentrations of LPG users are found in St Andrew followed by St. Catherine, St James, Clarendon and Manchester.

According to the census conducted by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin), just 16 per cent of households or 141,835 have access to treated piped water for drinking. Another 68,839 households reported having access to treated drinking water, but it is not piped.

Statin found that 503,411 households or a significant 57.1 per cent have access to piped water used for drinking, but said it is not treated. Another 85,392 households or 9.7 per cent have access to water for drinking from other sources not specifically identified, but it is also not treated.

Statin has not identified a reason for the large number of households not having access to treated water for drinking.The census found that 7.5 per cent or 66,843 households now use bottled water for drinking.

However, the low level of treated piped water used for drinking is not necessarily reflective of the state-owned National Water Commission‘s (NWC) services according to Statin’s Director of Censuses, Demographics and Social Statistics Dr Valerie Nam.

Public relations officer at the NWC Karen Williams said the agency has a customer base of about 425,000, comprising residential and commercial consumers and that it treats all the water it supplies.

Consumption of the NWC’s supplies is reflected in the census document by separate breakdown of households’ source of water used for domestic purposes. It shows that 450,625 households or 51.1 per cent obtain the commodity from a public source and have it piped into their homes.

Another 140,678 or almost 16 per cent of households had water piped into their yard; 52,371 or about six per cent obtain it from standpipes and 10,776 or 1.2 per cent get it from catchments.

mcpherse.thompson@gleanerjm.com

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JPS News

JPS compensation shorts out Due: $140 million; Paid: $9 million

February 15, 2012 jrobinson

JAMAICA Public Service Company (JPS) and National Water Commission (NWC) continue to report high levels of breaches of the guaranteed standards that are supposed to guide the quality of service that they deliver to customers, according to the Office of Utilities Regulations (OUR).

In 2010, JPS reported 83,000 breaches, which would have cost the company $140 million if they had to fully compensate customers. Only $9 million of that amount was paid.

JPS