THE Jamaica Public Service (JPS) on Tuesday softened its stance on the decision to estimate customers’ bills this month and has asked the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) to review the mechanism for calculating estimated bills, specifically for customers impacted by prolonged power outages as a result of Hurricane Beryl’s passage three weeks ago.

JPS, last Friday, advised customers that electricity bills they receive this month may be estimated as several areas of its operations were disrupted due to the passage of the hurricane. The light and power company said the disaster has affected its ability to do actual meter readings, whether remotely or manually.

Many Jamaicans were upset by this decision, including Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications, and Transport Daryl Vaz and his Opposition counterpart Phillip Paulwell, who have openly chastised JPS on the matter.

Seemingly in response to the backlash, acting president and CEO of the light and power company Damian Obiglio, in a media release on Tuesday afternoon, expressed regret in having to send estimated bills to some customers.

“We regret the recent billing experience of our customers, based on the fact that we had very little choice but to issue estimated bills to some customers following the disruption of our operations by the hurricane,” said Obligio.

“The fact is, JPS is mandated to issue bills to its customers for 30-day periods. We used the standard methodology established by the OUR to calculate estimated bills,” he said further.

He said that the company’s request that OUR review the billing mechanism is to minimise the impact on individuals who could end up being worse off as a result of being estimated using the regulatory prescribed methodology.

Minister Vaz, who had updated Parliament earlier Tuesday on electricity restoration, said in a press release last evening that the light and power company’s “communication demonstrates a start, and I believe there are aspects of relief that can be improved, and I will be pursuing them with the JPS and OUR”.

In the meantime, to ease the impact to customers, JPS announced a Hurricane Beryl Relief Programme, which includes providing discounts for approximately 350,000 JPS residential customers. The company said it will be giving a 20 per cent discount on the bills of customers who use 150 kWh of electricity or less for the month.

This discount will be applied to current charges and will be reflected on bills that customers will start receiving in August. Active prepaid residential customers will get a one-off $1,500 top-up electricity credit on their accounts.

Also under the relief programme, JPS will continue to relax its collections and disconnection processes, as it has not disconnected customers for non-payment of bills since the passage of the hurricane. Disconnections will be suspended up to August 15.

JPS said it will also continue to facilitate flexible payment arrangements for customers who need extensions on their due dates. Requests are being dealt with on a case-by-case basis, so individuals requiring extensions can make their request using the myJPS Mobile App or by contacting the JPS Customer Care Centre.

Prior to this statement by JPS, Vaz chastised the light and power company in Parliament, stating that he was not pleased with progress of electricity restoration three weeks after the hurricane. In a statement to Parliament, Vaz pointed to some of the restoration deadlines given by the company that had been missed. “JPS’s deadlines published for parish-by-parish restoration has been missed; areas which the JPS has indicated are restored, upon checks made, they are not fully restored,” Vaz said.

“Based on the missed deadlines, the projected date for full restoration keeps moving further and further away,” he said, noting that at a meeting with JPS management on Saturday he was not satisfied with the answers to his questions, and questioned if the company truly understands the pain and suffering of its customers.

Vaz said he also had a major issue with estimated bills, stressing that Jamaica should never be put in this position again where a utility licence granted seemingly protects the provider more than the customers.

“On receipt of the letter from JPS for the ‘force majeure’ clause to be introduced, I subsequently sent that to the Attorney General’s Chambers and the OUR for their reponse to me. Yesterday, I had a meeting in between Cabinet with the three government directors on the JPS board, firstly to find out whether or not they were aware of the decision by JPS to send out what I call insensitive and unacceptable estimated bills for persons, who right now don’t have electricity,” he said.

“They categorically stated that they did not and that there was no board meeting that was held to discuss that, and by virtue of the JPS statement, you can see that they are depending on the licence. So they didn’t need to go anywhere and get any approval because the licence that was granted in January 2016, signed by my esteemed colleague and friend from East Kingston and Port Royal, that is what they are using,” he added.

The JPS has stated that the licence gives them the power to use estimated bills, which they have done several times before.

“If the JPS cannot see beyond the legal and appreciate the moral and ethical position that so many Jamaicans are expecting them to act from, it is a dark day in Jamaica. Literally and figuratively,” Vaz said.

Vaz told the House that in his recent talks with head of the Caribbean Utilities Company in the Cayman Islands, he had asked what steps the company took after Cayman suffered a catastrophic hurricane.

“They took 75 days to restore the last customer and they did not issue a bill until the 76th day, and even in issuing those bills, they gave concessions, they gave discounts, and they gave payment plans and… any reasonable company would make a compassionate decision such as that,” he said.

He said that the Cayman light and power company, which does not have an emergency fund like Jamaica, drew down on emergency lines of credit that it had established for such situations.

He noted that Jamaica has an emergency fund valued at $50 million, which comes from the tariffs paid every month. He argued that there must have been some kind of arrangement that could have been put in place to cushion customers “and not come to a situation where the Government is at odds with the JPS”.

“It’s not a good situation but it is needed at this time and I am hoping that JPS will do the right thing, as we all make mistakes in life, and come with something for the JPS customers in the coming hours,” he said.

In response to Vaz’s statement, Paulwell, who is Opposition spokesperson on energy and cimate change, reiterated his angst that JPS customers, including himself, will be issued with estimated bills this month.

“I was amazed and appalled by the notice that I got on Friday which indicated that I, as a consumer, will be subject to an estimated bill. It [is] unconscionable… especially because it would provide JPS with an undeserved windfall, and it is being done in the context of sufferation, and it is wrong,” he said.