Regional utility regulators urged to deliver tangible public benefits

Ansell E. Hewitt, who chairs the Organization of Caribbean Utility Regulators and serves as Director General of Jamaica’s Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), has called on regional utility regulators to spend less energy on formal procedures and more on work that clearly improves people’s lives.

He issued the appeal on Wednesday, 29 April 2026, during the third day of the 20th OUR conference at the Ocean Coral Spring Resort in Trelawny. The remarks came at a regulatory round table held under the theme “Regulatory Innovations: Embracing Change in a Rapidly Transforming Utility Landscape.”

Mr Hewitt said regulators must examine how they operate and resist leaning too heavily on familiar methods when outcomes suffer. “Is it possible a great part of the perceived difficulty is that over time value practices above principles, emphasize inputs over outputs, promote methodologies over results, and to stick to the tried and tested when all evidence suggests that the tide has shifted?” he asked. “In the final analysis, regulation is only beneficial if it makes society better off.”

He pointed to big data and artificial intelligence as tools that could speed up research, sharpen decisions, and help regulators deliver results more efficiently. Social media and regulatory analytics, he added, could widen public consultation and improve how interventions are assessed.

The round table drew contributions from regulatory leaders across the region and was moderated by Glenn Khan, a former Executive Director of the OUR.