OUR slaps cease and desist order on JPS

The directive follows recent protest by residents of St John’s Road, Spanish Town, St Catherine after the light and power company disconnected service in a section of the community due to rampant electricity theft. This move by the JPS impacted four percent of legitimate customers or 25 out of 650 residents, an act that the OUR said deprives “paying customers” and breaches the company’s “licence obligations”.

“The JPS is also prohibited from taking any similar actions in any other community across the island, as of the effective date of the directive, issued on 2021, October 15,” said the regulatory authority in a statement this evening. 

“The OUR has directed that JPS’s ‘Transformer Protection Programme’ pilot project be suspended for ninety (90) days (in the first place), from 2021 October 15, to allow the OUR to complete its investigations and publish its findings. The OUR is of the view that given the expanse of the pilot, the frequency and duration of the outages complained of, there is a real risk that paying customers will be deprived of adequate and reliable electricity as required by the JPS’s Licence obligations.

“Failure by JPS to comply with this directive within the time period specified herein, will render it liable to enforcement action pursuant to section 9 of the OUR Act.”

The OUR said it’s office has been receiving complaints since July of this year about prolonged power outages in several communities, with reports of many occurring daily.  An investigation was launch with the OUR writing to the JPS seeking clarity on the matter.

Said the OUR: “On 2021 October 4, JPS responded apprising the OUR for the first time of the implementation of what it terms its ‘Transformer Protection Programme’ pilot project. The response also gave an indication of the nature and extent of the curtailment of service that has significantly affected JPS’s paying customers in approximately eighty-eight (88) communities. The information suggests that the outages are more widespread in sections of St. Catherine, Kingston and St. Andrew South, Kingston and St. Andrew North, Clarendon and St. James.

“The OUR is against all forms of electricity theft which has impacted the provision of economical and adequate electricity services. The OUR is also mindful of JPS’s obligations to take steps to ensure the reliability, adequacy, safety and efficiency of the service that it provides to the public.

“The OUR has not approved any policy or measure that would see the use of outages, imposed on legitimate customers, as a means to control electricity losses.

“Therefore, there is the recognition that in the bid to control electricity losses, there is also an imperative to protect the rights and legitimate expectations of paying customers in respect of the utility company’s obligation to…”

After responding to the OUR, the JPS issued a statement citing the gravity of the situation in the St John’s Road community. It said since the start of the year transformers were replaced on seven occasions because of illegal connection and theft.

“Transformers typically have a lifetime of 15 to 20 years, but this community has managed to destroy six of these in nine months, at a cost of J$1.6 million”, said the JPS.