Energy Minister Daryl Vaz yesterday scolded the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) over the manner in which it has been managing premature failure of its transformers, lines and other equipment triggered by electricity theft.

According to Vaz, it is highly unacceptable to cut service to an entire community as doing so disenfranchises several paying customers.

He also expressed disappointment that neither the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) nor his ministry was informed about this practice which started in March 2021.

“Those paying customers face a double jeopardy; they are paying their electricity bill and they are already paying 15 to 17 per cent on that bill to compensate for electricity theft. It is not good business practice and it does not allow for good customer relations to turn around and punish legitimate customers twice by disconnecting their power supply,” a news release from the ministry quotes Vaz.

He said that it could not be lost on the JPS the severe hardship that its actions have imposed on its paying customers and urged an immediate re-think of the strategy.

Vaz admitted that the issue of electricity theft was a difficult one which no doubt affects the operations of the JPS, but noted that solutions should be explored through consultation, collaboration, and community engagement. He noted that the sustainable reduction in electricity theft which contributes to transformer failures cannot be achieved without a mix of approaches, including the strengthening of the policy, legislative and social security frameworks and improvements in technological and institutional capacities.

He recommended that JPS quicken the pace of more wide-scale adoption of smart technologies and the utilisation of solutions that will allow poor Jamaicans to buy and manage their electricity use within their budget similarly to what obtains in the telecommunications sector.

“As I said in my sectoral presentation in mid-May, electricity theft is an old problem in Jamaica that we have failed to address in a sustainable way. I informed the country that the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology would be approaching the issue from a policy perspective with help from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and through a targeted community-based initiative in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID),” the release quotes Vaz.

The ministry said it has received an inception report from the IDB with a timeline for the development of a National Electricity Loss Reduction Plan for the country.

“The USAID-led community engagement intervention has brought stakeholders from the IDB, JPS, and Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology to develop the enhanced community engagement metrics to determine the efficacy of community engagement and loss reduction programme in an effort to improve sustainability of community strategies,” the release said.

Additionally, it said Vaz noted that since 2014 seven initiatives have been implemented by the JPS to, among other things, reduce tampering, detect losses and improve measurement.

“The time is now to admit that we have a problem in the country with many Jamaicans not being able to afford to pay light bill, some who can afford but are unwilling to regularise, and some who are willing to regularise but are experiencing other challenges such as proof of ownership or occupancy and the poor state of houses which are unsafe for wiring,” Vaz said.

“While there are no quick fixes, elected representatives, community influencers and State and non-State actors must work together within appropriate policy, legislative and social security frameworks to find sustainable solutions,” Vaz added.