THE Jamaica Public Service’s (JPS) decision to impose a seven-cent per kilowatt-hour (kWh) hurricane recovery charge on electricity bills this month has drawn the wrath of Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) spokesman on energy, Clive Mullings.

Mullings, in a statement yesterday, called on the light and power company to “give a full explanation as to the reasons behind not informing Jamaica that the hurricane recovery charge (z-factor) would be applied to their July bills”.

“. The JLP’s position remained unchanged that it cannot be correct to allow the JPS to unilaterally collect from the consumer for damage to their property and not offer a recourse when the JPS causes damage to the consumers’ equipment or property,” Mullings said yesterday.

He said the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), in agreeing to allow the company to recover costs through the charge, was guilty of “an abuse of a captive market which clearly flies in the face of their consumer charter”.

But the OUR’s director general, J Paul Morgan, yesterday rejected any suggestion of curry favour on the part of the regulatory body.

“For us it’s not a question of something new, nor is it a question of a breach of any charters or rights or anything like this,” Morgan told the Observer. “It’s a decision that was taken with due diligence and due consideration from two years ago.”

The OUR in August of 2005 approved the seven-cent increase per kWh on electricity bills to allow the light and power company to raise $457.5 million over a two-year period to pay for repairs to its system, which was damaged by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004, rejecting nearly two-thirds of the JPS’ claim of $1.4 billion. The decision did not satisfy the light and power company, which has appealed the disputed amount.

Yesterday, Morgan said the light and power company had not implemented the approved rate, which should have taken effect in October of the same year, but was now choosing to do so.

“It’s a decision that the office had taken two years ago, so we couldn’t now say that they can’t implement,” said Morgan. “It’s for exactly a period of two years for the JPS to recover exactly the amount of money that we approved two years ago.”

In the meantime, head of corporate communications at the JPS, Winsome Callum, said yesterday that approval from the OUR to implement the hurricane charge was received by the JPS in June 2007. According to Callum, “extensive customer education on the matter could not have been done before the OUR approval was received, as there was no predicting what the regulator’s position on the application would have been”.

She said customers have been advised of the adjustment, primarily via a bill insert that is accompanying bills being dispatched in July.

The hurricane cost recovery surcharge will be applied to bills, beginning in July, for an initial period of 24 months at a base rate of 7.4 cents per kWh. This means that a typical residential customer using 200 kWh of electricity will pay an additional amount of just under $15 in July. The JPS said the base rate will be adjusted monthly to reflect changes in the rate of exchange.