THE Jamaica Public Service (JPS) has appealed to the Government to help stamp out electricity theft by throwing the weight of the justice system behind the issue, dedicating a special utility court to deal with cases.

The senior management of the JPS stressed yesterday that laws against electricity theft need to be strengthened, and that the judicial system should give the kind of focus to electricity theft that it deserves.“JPS shoulders an important part of electricity theft, we pay for that as an organisation, and we shouldn’t. It’s mostly outside of our control. We have spent an enormous amount of money and we continue to devote a lot of resources, people, and money in installing a lot of technical devices that are necessary for a modern grid [but] the technological solutions are not the solution to eliminate that, and they never will be. So technology is not the answer,” president and chief executive officer of the JPS, Michel Gantois, told a meeting of Parliament’s joint select committee on the 2015 Electricity Act, yesterday.Senior vice-president of customer service, Ramsay McDonald, at the same time, pointed out, “The court system needs to be strengthened to deal with electricity theft. We need to ensure that our judicial system is fully up to date on what we are dealing with. In this country we need to take a very firm stance and we need to put it squarely on the platform that this is a crime and cannot be allowed to continue”.The JPS said one in every four households – about 180,000-200,000 people – steal the power they consume, costing the company US$200 million in losses last year. One thousand persons were arrested for stealing electricity in 2020.The light and power company pointed out no country plagued by electricity theft has been able to stamp out the scourge without Government’s intervention.

“At any point in time it (electricity) is the most stolen product. There has been no nation that has been able to deal with this issue without Government leading, and without recognising the socio-economic drivers of the theft of electricity, and that is where the focus needs to be,” Chief Operating Officer Gary Barrow argued.

In recommendations to the House committee yesterday, the JPS urged the Government to set up a special utility court, given the prevalence of electricity theft. “No loss reduction programme will be effective and sustainable without a high probability of offenders being caught and prosecuted. Given the prevalence of electricity theft, and other offences relating to utilities, stepped up prosecutions could overwhelm courts. Some jurisdictions have used special courts or dedicated court sessions for mass processing of offences. This avoids tying up the resources of law enforcement, judiciary and litigants for inordinate periods, and sends a strong message about the seriousness of the crime,” the company said.It is also recommending that police teams be specially trained to identify the crime and bring perpetrators to justice. In addition, the JPS wants to be given critical national security infrastructure designation in the amended Electricity Act. It said that electricity grids are now regarded as critical infrastructure to modern societies that require national security protection. “We provide energy and power to crucial entities within this nation and therefore we cannot be left exposed to cyberattack, vandalism, trespassing and theft of our critical infrastructure,” McDonald said.

The JPS is also calling for swift passage of regulations to ban the use of incandescent light bulbs, which it said are the bulbs of choice for those who steal electricity, with no incentive to use energy-saving devices.

The company said, too, that the Government should also advance wiring and certification assistance to households, as this is a key barrier to legal supply for low-income households.

“Another key component is the Government’s electrical inspectorate that needs to be beefed up in order for us to rapidly deal with the number of applications that come through, requiring safe, reliable electricity. Government needs to assist,” McDonald said.