After years of complaining about exorbitant electricity bills, Jamaicans have decided to take matters into their own hands. A

The petition was created by Petra Hinds, who declares that it’s time to ‘take a stand against this uncaring monopoly’. It has so far reached more than 35,000 of its 50,000 signatures goal.

Hinds, in her plea for JPS customers to sign the petition, laments the drastic increase in electricity bills since the coronavirus pandemic.

“The world has seen, in light of this Covid19 pandemic, subzero oil and fuel prices, which are neither reflected at the pumps nor on our utility bills (JPS especially),” she said.

She expresses her frustration at the monopoly that JPS currently has in Jamaica. “The company enjoys market monopoly and therefore has opted to keep Jamaicans impoverished with its exorbitant and cruel business ethics.

How does a pensioner, a person with a disability, an unemployed person who depends on remittances, afford these ever-increasing electricity bills?” she asked.

A lot of people have been taking to social media to vent about about the high electricity bills they have been receiving from JPS since the government issued stay at home order in March. This includes Jamaican sprinter, Asafa Powell.

“Wah really ah gwane? My bill jumped over 20k+ each month. I’ve a solar panel system set up…when we saw the 1st increase we decided to purposely cut back on washing etc 2c if the bill would go down it went up more. This is deliberate by you guys plain and simple,” he said.

— Asafa Powell (@officialasafa)

— Asafa Powell (@officialasafa) @myJPSonline wah really ah gwane? My bill jumped over 20k+ each month. I’ve a solar panel system set up…when we saw the 1st increase we decided to purposely cut back on washing etc 2c if the bill would go down it went up more. This is deliberate by you guys plain and simple.June 9, 2020

“As long as JPS has no competitor it can bill customers whatever it sees fit.. who else are you going to go to? We need another power company in Jamaica.. Break the Monopoly called JPS!!!” a Twitter user replied.

As long as JPS has no competitor it can bill customers whatever it sees fit.. who else are you going to go to? We need another power company in Jamaica.. Break the Monopoly called JPS!!!— Mr. Lewis (@earndit2)

As long as JPS has no competitor it can bill customers whatever it sees fit.. who else are you going to go to? We need another power company in Jamaica.. Break the Monopoly called JPS!!!— Mr. Lewis (@earndit2) June 9, 2020