Front Row (L-R) Ms. Kelly Tomblin, President and CEO, JPS; Her Worsip the Mayor & Chairman of the Manchester Parish Council, Councillor Brenda Ramsay; Mr. Roger Kennedy, Regional Director (Central) (Acting; Councillor Ervin Facey, Deputy Mayor & Vice-Chairman, Manchester Parish Council. Back Row (L-R): Mr. Shelton Thomas, Operations Manager, JPS; Mr. Darlton Brown - Councillor Alligator Pond Division; Mr. Donovan Cunningham, Parish Manager - Manchester (Acting) and Mr. Keith Garvey, Vice President, Community Renewal and Energy Solutions, JPS.
Members of the JPSCo. team addresses Councillors
THE Jamaica Public Service (JPS) says electricity consumers are now paying US 25 cents (J$14.47) per kilowatt-hour (kWh), which the light and power company said is the lowest electricity rate since 2010.
"Our number one goal this year is to lower our customers' energy bills," said JPS President and CEO Kelly Tomblin, while addressing Councillors and Heads of Department of the Parish Council of Manchester during a courtesy call on the Mayor & Chairman of the Council, Brenda Ramsay on Tuesday, April 14, 2015.
During her address, the JPS President & CEO advised that the following initiatives were being undertaken by the company:
- Community Renewal Programmes
- Partnership - Community Social Interventions
- Introduction of the Pay As You Go metering system
Keith Garvy, Vice President, Community Renewal and Energy Solutions, JPS told members of the Council that the company was in dialogue with the World Bank and the USAID as a means of forging partnerships along with communith members for the implementation of community renewal initiatives.
Community facilitation and social intervention partnership, Garvy said, will see the JPS facilitating the training of residents in various communities in skills such as electrical installation and house wiring.
The institution of the Pay As You Go (PAYG) metering is a prepaid system which allows customers to control their daily energy usage and keep cost affordable. According to Garvy, top up locations would be easily accessed using small denomination of jamaican dollars. This facility would be limited to Kingston , St. Andrew and St. Catherine in the first phase, but plans are in place to offer the PAYG island wide.
The main concerns echoed by the Council's representatives were:
- The need for the extension of electricty supply
- Electricity theft especially that of street lamps
- High cost of electricty
Since last year, JPS customers have been benefitting from lower Fuel & IPP Charges on their bills, as a result of the reduction in the price of oil on the world market. The Fuel & IPP Charge on bills is coming down from a high of $J28.828/kWh in March last year when oil prices were at their highest for 2014.
In the meantime, the JPS President and CEO is encouraging customers to continue their conservation efforts, "Energy conservation and energy efficiency are key to sustainable long term reductions in energy costs," said Tomblin.
Mayor Ramsay thanked the team and trust that the initiatives will be manifested in the near future.
The Parish Council of Manchester was delighted to host the JPS team.