KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Office of Utilities Regulation says the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) is expected to respond to its queries regarding complaints of high electricity bills by next Tuesday.

In a statement a short while ago, OUR said it received 479 complaints about JPS between April 1 and June 12 via its social media pages and through direct contacts with its Consumer Affairs Unit by calls, letters and emails.

It also noted complaints posted on the light and power company’s social media pages.

The customers have been complaining that they have seen drastic spikes in their electricity bills despite no increase in consumption, or where there was an acknowledgement of increased consumption, customers feel the level of increase is too high.

OUR said that on April 21, it wrote to JPS on the matter, requesting information including:

[naviga:ul]

[naviga:li]Whether JPS had received complaints regarding significant increases in consumption between March – April and if so, the number of complaints and areas affected[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]JPS’s findings into investigations into these complaints; and[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Whether there has been an increase in the number of estimated bills for March – April compared to previous billing cycles since 2020 and the corresponding period in 2019.[/naviga:li]

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The regulatory body said that in response, on May 20, JPS acknowledged, inter alia, that there was a 44 per cent increase in complaints by customers of high bills and consumption between April and March, compared to the corresponding period in 2019, with most of the complaints coming from residential customers.

This information provided by JPS gave rise to additional questions, OUR said, adding that it again wrote to the company on June 9 for further clarification and additional information, which JPS is expected to provide by June 23.

OUR said it continues to monitor the situation and takes note of additional complaints, including those being discussed in various media.