JAMAICA Public Service (JPS) customers should start paying about 10 per cent less for electricity as of this month due to a significant decrease in the fuel charge on bills.

This month's Fuel & IPP Charge of $16.748 is the lowest on electricity bills in more than a year, the light and power company has said. The Fuel & IPP Charge on August bills is $16.748 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), compared to a charge of $20.445 per kWh applied to bills in July.

At this month's rate, the cost of electricity to customers is approximately US 32 cents per kWh.

For the average consumer who uses 200 kWh of electricity each month, this means that he/she will be paying almost $700 less for electricity in August, compared to the previous month.

This month's reduction in Fuel & IPP Charge is due to a combination of factors the power company said in a release yesterday.

The Petrojam rebate for the overcharge on fuel purchased by independent power supplier, Jamaica Private Power Company (JPPC) is one reason. The others are a new efficiency target set by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) for JPS and an overall reduction in the cost of oil used to produce electricity.

The one-off Petrojam rebate of J$343 million (US$3.8 million), represents the overcharge on fuel to JPPC.

Also, starting this month, customers are expected to see the benefits of a new Heat Rate target, set by the OUR to ensure more efficient electricity generation. The lower Heat Rate target means that JPS will absorb more of the cost of inefficiencies in the electricity generation process, and pass on to customers the benefits of increased efficiencies.

According to the JPS release, customers have been benefiting from lower fuel charges on their bills since June this year, as a result of the recent downward trend in global oil prices.