Winsome Callum, head of communications at JPS, says no jobs will be cut as a result of the remote meter reading programme. - File

Jamaica Public Service Company says it will invest as much as US$350 per customer to transform its meter-reading system to one that is totally electronic, but the Office of Utilities Regulation says Tuesday that it finds aspect of the plan worrying.

OUR spokesman David Geddes says there is no clear indication yet how it would affect electricity rates, and that its endorsement of the plan will be weighted on its impact on the pockets of householders.

Safeguarding customer rights

And it wants assurances about the safeguarding of customer rights under the proposal by JPS to interconnect some meters.

"We have a tariff review coming up for JPS this year and I would imagine that we would be looking at what their expenses are and what it would translate to in the rates - how it would affect the rates - then we would by the tariff signal what we support or don't support," Geddes says.

The monopoly power provider, at last published count, had 581,828 customers on its books, which would value the metering investment at about US$204 million or more than $16 billion.

JPS' head of corporate communications, Winsome Callum, says the programme, while it is to be implemented islandwide, will be rolled out on a phased basis.

Project implementation

"The pilot project will most likely be implemented in the greater metropolitan area," Callum tells Wednesday Business, referring to the connecting parishes of Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine.

Together, the region accounts for some 43 per cent of Jamaica's population.

The timing, to some extent, is dependent on standards regulators, who are now testing the meters for accuracy, but JPS has signalled that it will happen this year.

The metering programme is also being pushed by JPS as another anti-theft measure alongside the erection of insulated power lines in select communities to deter illicit connections to its line distribution system, saying in its December newsletter that it was "preparing to intensify efforts to fight the problem".

Electricity theft reached 13 per cent of generated supplies in 2008, the company has said.

In 2007, the average customer paid $38,968 in electricity bills for the year, according to JPS figures, up from $36,659 the year before.

Electricity sales

Total electricity sales were basically flat at 3.13 million MWh.

That year the company's losses from system faults and theft or unaccounted for power reached 947,277 MWh or 23.2 per cent of net generation, up from 925,759 MWh or 22.9 per cent of generation in 2006.

Callum says the electronic meters will allow the company to remotely monitor customers electricity usage, read meters, detect meter tampering, as well as connect or disconnect supplies.

Inspection of meters

The OUR has been briefed on the plan and the meters are now being inspected by the Bureau of Standards. Both agencies have to approve the programme before implementation.

The meters will be placed on poles in specially constructed meter cases, and the customer provided with digital monitoring devices that will provide readings of their electricity consumption.

Any attempt to tamper with the system could result in a shutdown of power within that area or community, but JPS says it will be able to reconnect affected customers within minutes.

The OUR still considers this a potential problem, and has asked JPS to provide additional information on how this would work without inconveniencing compliant customers.

"One of the concerns that we have is that they have indicated that they will be placing 24 units on a system and if one person tampers with the system, others would be affected, but we need further clarification on that, as well as how customers whose service was disrupted wrongfully will be dealt with," said Geddes.

Clarification

"So I have sent a letter seeking clarification on the level of inconvenience for legitimate customers who have not compromised their relationship with the utility company by way of tampering or anything else."

Callum meantime says the programme will not result in job cuts for meter-readers, even though the system will switch to remote monitoring of consumption.

mark.titus@gleanerjm.com