Investigation launched into high light bills, JPS says it doesn’t set nor can change electricity rates

Specifically, customers complain that they have seen drastic spikes in their bills even though they did not increase consumption, or where there was an acknowledgement of increased consumption, customers feel the level of increase is too high, the OUR said.

The OUR said it has been receiving complaints via its social media pages and through direct contacts with its consumer affairs unit by calls, letters and emails. The OUR said it noted complaints posted on JPS’s social media pages.

Over the weekend Attorney General Marlene Malahoo Forte tweeted that she received a JPS bill for her home showing a 1,000 percent increase from the previous month billing.

Based on data supplied by the utility regulator, customer complaints for the first three months of the year versus April to June have skyrocketed by more than 200 percent by way of formal letters, emails and telephone calls. On social media the OUR said complaints have risen exponentially from five to 89 comparing the same periods.

The OUR said in April it wrote to the JPS requesting clarification on the issue. According to the OUR the JPS responded on May 20, saying “that there was a 44% increase in complaints by customers of high bills and consumption between 2020 April and March, compared to the 2019 corresponding period, with most of the complaints coming from residential customers.”

Subsequently the OUR said a second letter on the matter was sent on June 9 to the JPS seeking further clarification
The JPS maintains, however, that it “doesn’t set and cannot change electricity rates” and that billing is highly influenced by fuel and movement in the Jamaican dollar relative to the greenback.

The light and power company has indicated though that its customers will see a slight reduction in their June billing due to lower oil prices.

“The fuel and IPP charge on bills this month is $23.40  for each kilowatt-hour used, compared to $24.20 per kilowatt-hour in May.

“Customers are benefiting from reductions in the price of oil on the world market, which is reflected in the lower price of the oil bought from Petrojam. However, liquefied natural gas (LNG), bought from New Fortress Energy, is used to produce about 70% of the electricity sold to customers. This means that the bulk of the fuel charge on bills is for LNG, which has not seen price reductions. Because of the current fuel mix used in electricity generation, the overall fuel cost that customers pay is not significantly impacted by changes in oil prices.

“The fuel charge on bills reflects the actual cost of the fuel that JPS uses to produce electricity. The amount the company pays for fuel is directly passed on in customers’ monthly bills, without a mark-up or profit to JPS,” the JPS said in a statement yesterday.