THE Government has decided to cushion the impact of the rising cost of electricity fuelled by increased oil prices for more than 457,000 vulnerable Jamaicans.

Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke, in making the announcement in the House of Representatives Tuesday, said that the Government would be making a direct “pass through” to Jamaica Public Service (JPS) to assist these most vulnerable customers.

The programme, known as the We CARE Energy Co-Pay, involves the Government paying 20 per cent of the JPS bill for all households that consume 200 kilowatt hours(kWh) for all household that consume 200 kWh of electricity or less, per month, between April and July, this year.

According to Dr Clarke, 81 per cent of households will benefit from this temporary Government initiative, which is aimed at cushioning the impact of rising energy prices and is expected to cost in the region of $2 billion. He confirmed that now JPS also has pre-paid customers who pay in advance for small amounts of electricity at a time, by topping up their accounts.

The Government, through the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) has been regularising communities where unauthorised electricity connection was once the norm. The We CARE Energy Co-Pay programme will also assist these pre-paid customers. For the months of April, May, June and July, every JPS electricity pre-paid top-up purchased will receive bonus credit from the Government representing 20 per cent of the top-up amount.

Dr Clarke revealed the company’s consumption bands are between 50 kilowatt hours per month and 1,000 kilowatt hours per month, noting that the JPS has a retail customer base of approximately 563,451 households within these bands as at February 2022, of which 457,786 would be able to benefit from the temporary intervention with the 20 per cent cushion.

“No social assistance programme in the world has perfect targeting, meaning everyone who receives is in need and perfect efficiency, meaning all those you intended to target receive benefits. But targeting by energy consumption is recognised as highly correlated,” the minister said.

Clarke also announced that the Government has committed to spending $6.6 billion on digital devices for Jamaican students and teachers, under Ministry of Education programmes, representing more than 200,000 digital devices.

“This exceeds, by a factor of six, what the Government collects in GCT on computers. We believe in delivering targeted support and when we target we go big,” he said.

He also announced that the Government was aiming at a targeted approach in addressing the public transportation crisis.

He said that, as much as practically possible, the Government wishes to direct the relief towards persons who have been, and are, most affected and who have the least ability to cushion for themselves.

“We recognise that everyone feels it. But Government assistance should go to assist those who are most vulnerable, who are in the lowest consumption deciles and to those who need it most,” he stated.

He noted, too, that the population of Jamaicans who depend on public transportation is substantial, and is at least three times as large as the population fortunate enough to own their own motor vehicle.

“We need to protect those who depend on public transportation, and we will do so by supporting public transport operators,” he said, in announcing that the Government will provide $25,000 in vouchers to operators of public passenger vehicles, including route taxi operators and contract carriage operators, in recognition of the higher cost of fuel at this time.

He said that this is programmed to cost just under $600 million. The voucher programme will begin towards the latter half of April and will be administered by the Transport Authority (TA), under the stewardship of Minister of Transport and Mining Audley Shaw, who will speak more fulsomely to it in the sectoral debate in the House.

In addition, Clarke said the Government will make available $200 million in revolving loan financing for public passenger vehicle operators, which will be available through microcredit and approved financial institutions, by way of the Development Bank of Jamaica.

“This financing will be available for short term loans for tyres, batteries and spare parts required for public transportation operations. However, he said that, at the same time, he was appealing to public transportation operators, to abide by the fares set by the regulatory authorities.

Also, he said that Government will be increasing transportation assistance for PATH students by 40 per cent, at a total cost of $152 million.

In the meantime, the finance minister admitted that he would also like to find common ground with the Opposition, wherever that is possible, including in the addition of lithium batteries to the energy list.

“We agree on the addition of lithium batteries to the list of energy efficient products to benefit from tax relief. And the submission in support of this went to Cabinet even before I opened,” he pointed out.

He said that, in keeping with the thrust of the National Energy Policy (2009), his ministry has been updating its policy framework to encourage the use of energy-efficient technologies. From as early as 2013, the ministry incentivised the use of selected energy efficient technologies by suspending the Common External Tariff (CET) and granting General Consumption (GCT) exemption on the importation of such items, he informed the House.

The ministry, said Clarke, recognises that lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable batteries that use lithiumions as the primary component of its electrolyte, commonly used for portable electronics and electric vehicles.

“Their popularity has been growing as an energy storage technology, which should help to reduce the cost associated with the generation of electricity,” he said.

Clarke, meanwhile, said food assistance to vulnerable Jamaicans he announced in his opening budget presentation will target 75,000 persons across a mix of modalities, at a cost of $750 million.