JPS strikes conciliatory tone, awaits talks with GOJ over licence
Published:Friday | August 1, 2025 | 9:32 AM
The leadership of the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited, JPS, is preparing for negotiations with the Government of Jamaica towards a new all-island electricity licence agreement when its current exclusive arrangement expires in two years.
JPS Chairman Damian Obiglio said the government’s official notice to the company that it would not renew its all-island electricity licence when it expires in July 2027 did not come as a surprise, as the energy environment has undergone significant change since the licence was signed in 2015.
“The licence that was written 10 years ago has determined steps and the government had the option to acquire the licence at the end of this existence. The prime minister and the minister (of energy) have expressed their intention to renegotiate a different kind of tariff. We have always been willing to sit down with the government to negotiate a different kind of tariff,” Obiglio told the Financial Gleaner, following the company’s annual general meeting on Wednesday.
On July 1, Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, Daryl Vaz, announced that he had written to JPS citing Condition 27 of JPS’s licence, which provides for the Government of Jamaica “to acquire the licensed business at the expiration of the term of the licence”.
The government is not satisfied with the price of electricity in Jamaica, and has signalled it is willing to bring in new investors to manage the power company. Last year, Finance Minister Fayval Williams told lawmakers that Jamaica was among the top 20 countries for high electricity bills, then quoting the cost at being around US$0.35 per kilowatt-hour.
In recent years, the high cost of energy has seen many big companies attempting to wean themselves off the national grid, through investments in LNG and renewable power systems, including solar and wind.
JPS is co-owned by Asian companies Korea East-West Power and Marubeni Corporation of Japan, each of which hold a 40 per cent stake in the utility, while the Government of Jamaica is a minority partner with nearly 20 per cent interest.
Obiglio said that with the changes taking place in the energy sector, it was a good time to negotiate a new licence, if possible.
“I think the minister was right in saying that things have changed over time – technology has changed, the needs of Jamaica have changed. It’s a good time to sit down and see the future together and how this relationship can evolve with new technologies and new needs,” said Obiglio, who once ran the power utility as president for over five years, from July 2006 to November 2011, and as interim president for six months in 2024 during a leadership transition.
“The relationship between the JPS and Jamaica is 102 years old. In 102 years, we have to adapt to different situations and different realities in the country … we have to work with Jamaica to do what is best for Jamaica,” he said.
The current JPS President and CEO, Hugh Grant, declined to comment on the talks ahead.
“I think, in the spirit of good faith, we don’t want to pre-empt anything in regard to negotiations. We are prepared and we’re ready to negotiate. We want to give that process an opportunity to unlock the opportunities and outcomes that are best for our customers and for this great nation,” Grant said.
JPS, in the past two years, has reported profit within the US$60-million range.
In 2024, its earnings fell 10 per cent from US$68.2 million to US$61.9 million, which the company attributed to increased expenditure associated with recovery from the impact of Hurricane Beryl and other weather events.
The trend line continued into 2025, with first-quarter profit falling from $US$13.2 million to US$12.8 million.