JAMAICA PUBLIC Service Company (JPSCo) customers will have to pay increased bills this month.
The company said yesterday that the increases have resulted from rising world prices for fuels, as well as the depreciation of the Jamaican dollar.
"In keeping with the company's tariff structure, the cost of fuel used to generate electricity are passed on to customers. Consequently, customers see upward or downward movement adjustments to their fuel rates each month, in line with trends in the world market," the company explained in a release yesterday.
The JPSCo said, in addition, that its costs were also affected by the foreign exchange rate because a high proportion are foreign related. "Customers' bills are therefore adjusted each month to reflect the movement of the Jamaican dollar on the market," the company said.
"As a result, this month, a typical residential customer using 250 kilowatt-hours of electricity will see an increase of approximately 6.4 per cent over his bill for the previous month. This is due to a 12.6 per cent increase in the fuel cost and a 2.1 per cent increase in the billing exchange rate," the JPSCo release said.
JPSCo added that there were two additional variables that would influence the customer's bill each month: the amount of electricity used by the customer, and the number of days for which he is being billed. The precise increase that a customer sees on the January bill, therefore, varies depending on these two variables.
The company which, according to the latest quarterly report from the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) continues to be, by far, the most complained about public utility, is seeking a further rate increase.
The increase, of about 6.7 per cent, is expected to come into effect by March. But J. Paul Morgan, director-general of the OUR, has assured the public that the current tariff regime will end in late 2004.
The new regime will include a factor that will reward or penalise JPSCo for the quality of the service it provides, Mr. Morgan said.
