THE JAMAICA Public Service Company (JPS), facing relentless pressure from the public and the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), has decided to allow customers who experienced unusually high electricity billings in November to pay their normal monthly bills while investigation into the irregularities continue.
The light and power company, in a statement issued yesterday, said it "will examine each disputed account on a case-by-case basis, as there was nothing to indicate that the company's billing system has a systemic problem."
PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT
However, the OUR's Director-General, J. Paul Morgan, at a press briefing on Tuesday, said based on a preliminary assessment of the complaints received, the irregularities were a result of incorrect metre readings. He also said the JPS had admitted to issuing abnormal bills to some 130,000 customers.
The country's sole supplier of electricity has been mandated to provide the OUR with information on its billing system by January 11. This is to enable the OUR to conduct an investigation of the method used to bill customers. In addition, the JPS is expected to provide the OUR with a report by the end of business today, explaining the factors which influenced exorbitant billings on 32 bills considered to be the worst of the complaints received by the utility regulating agency.
In the meantime, the JPS said it was undertaking to bring forward the implementation of monthly metre readings from the original target date of 2006. The company said it was working with the OUR and was currently preparing the requested reports in an attempt
to bring a speedy resolution to the situation.
