OUR urges JPS to ensure proper billing following Hurricane Melissa

The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has urged the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS) to ensure the observation of good practise and the application of reasonable consideration in its billing to customers in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.

The OUR says the billing concerns that emerged following Hurricane Beryl in 2024 should be avoided whenever possible.

The utility regulator says it will be engaging with JPS in a collaborative approach to ensure that any risk of bill shock to customers can be mitigated.

“While remaining cognisant that additional costs may be unavoidable, we remain committed to ensuring that in any such eventuality they will be spread out over time to avoid rate shock,” said OUR in a media release on Friday.

The OUR is reminding JPS customers that electricity rates are not arbitrarily increased, as the Electricity Licence, 2016 (JPS Licence), provides clear guidelines on how and when such matters are considered, including the applicable formulas and cost elements, and the review of tariff application submissions by JPS, which are due annually or every five years.

The agency noted that changes in some of the input costs for electricity supply may impact the rates charged in any given month.

For example, JPS may have to rely on more expensive fuel due to the unavailability of natural gas.

The OUR says any adjustment to electricity prices resulting from the use of more expensive fuel will be in accordance with the JPS Licence.

The OUR notes that, depending on the severity of the hurricane's effects, JPS may need to send more consecutive estimated bills than normal to some customers.

The regulator says it intends to maintain close scrutiny of this process to guard against adverse effects on customers.

The OUR says that following Hurricane Beryl last year, it initiated an exercise to assess the force majeure relief that can be afforded to customers in the event of a natural disaster.

“Currently, there are no provisions for this. Although this project is not yet complete, we will work with the utilities to determine what relief can be provided to the most severely affected customers.”

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