KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) says utility companies claim to be losing millions of dollars due to theft of service and equipment, a significant problem they say is affecting not just their bottom line, but also the service to customers.

OUR, in a release today, said the situation was disclosed at a recent webinar hosted by the office on July 31.

The webinar, entitled: Do the Right Thing: How Theft Impacts your Utility Services, saw for the first time, representatives of all the major utility companies converging to speak on this issue and how it is impacting them and their customers.

Director of Losses Operations & Analytics at the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Rasheed Anderson said the electricity distribution company estimates that approximately 200,000 households and commercial entities are stealing electricity. This compared to the approximately 600,000 legitimate customers on its system.

“When persons steal electricity, it impacts the quality and reliability of our power. It damages equipment that are essential to serving you and we have seen in many instances where sometimes people are out of power due to persons stealing from us,” said Anderson

He pointed out that in 2017, JPS paid US$70.8 million for fuel that was not recovered and that to date for 2018, US$32.2 million was spent on fuel which has not been recovered.

Meanwhile, the National Water Commission (NWC) says it estimates that between 12 per cent and 30 per cent of the water produced is stolen.

Corporate Communications Manager at the NWC, Charles Buchanan, says the NWC estimates that approximately 250,000 to 300,000 connections are involved in the theft of water.

“We categorise the instances of theft affecting our operations in primarily four ways: Infrastructure theft; theft from our employees which has created significant issues in our ability to carry out work in certain areas; theft in our watershed areas, and theft of service and supplies.”

“We continue to see illegal connections, meter tampering and meter bypasses, illegal use of water from hydrants and illegal commercial and other types of consumption,” he added.

The significant levels of theft, he said, are costing the water company millions of dollars annually.

Telecommunications companies Digicel and FLOW reported that they are also being significantly impacted by theft and vandalism. This includes theft of cables, generators, batteries and fuel.

Director of Corporate Communications and Stakeholder Management at FLOW, Kayon Mitchell, said that so far this year, approximately 51 communities have been affected by theft and vandalism, costing FLOW US$1.9m to restore services. This compares to a cost of US$6m to restore services in 2015 and 2016.

Digicel, which is experiencing similar issues of theft and vandalism, says expensive equipment including batteries placed at cell sites, are being stolen and sold for scrap metal.

Group Head of Field Operations Management at Digicel, Anthony Barrows pointed out that batteries which cost the companies approximately $80,000 each are being sold for scrap metal for less than $2,000 each.