Approx. 350,000 JPS Residential Customers to Receive Discounted Bills

Approximately 350,000 residential customers of the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) will benefit from a 20% discount on their bills.

On Tuesday, JPS announced the Hurricane Beryl Relief Programme.

The discount will be applied to current charges and will be reflected on bills that customers start receiving in August.

This follows an earlier advisory that bills for this month may be estimated due to the impacts of Hurricane Beryl, which have hindered both manual and remote metre readings.

Energy Minister Daryl Vaz had described JPS’s announcement of the estimated bills as insensitive.

Similarly, Opposition Spokesman on Energy, Phillip Paulwell, criticised the JPS and called for customer discounts.

In a statement yesterday, JPS Chairman Damian Obiglio explained that the company is mandated to issue bills for a 30-day period, thus the standard methodology was used to calculate estimated bills.

He added that JPS has submitted a proposal to the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) to review the mechanism for calculating estimated bills, particularly for customers affected by extended outages due to Hurricane Beryl. 

The 20% discount applies to customers using 150 kWh or less of electricity per month. Additionally, active prepaid residential customers will receive a one-time $1500 top-up in electricity credit.

JPS also noted that it has not disconnected customers for non-payment of bills since the hurricane and will continue to suspend disconnections until August 15.

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