JPS Says Higher Summer Power Bills Reflect Usage, Not Rate Increases

As summer temperatures climb across Jamaica, the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) is working to ease customer worries that power charges have gone up. The utility says larger monthly bills are largely tied to how much electricity households are using, especially as more people switch on cooling equipment to manage the heat.

Winsome Callum, the company's director of corporate communications, outlined that position. She made clear that despite the hot season, JPS is not raising electricity rates because temperatures are higher.

Callum said the chief reason bills are coming in higher is increased energy use by consumers.

"The average cost right now for electricity per kilowatt hour is about 54 Jamaican dollar per kilowatt hour. So, if you are an average residential customer using about 165 kilowatt hours for the month, then your bill will be just under $9,000. If you double this usage and go up to about 330 kilowatt hours, then at the same rate of $54 per kilowatt hour, then you will see a doubling of your bill to over $17,800. So that's how your usage drives your electricity bill."

Callum is asking customers to pay closer attention to how they use power during the summer months, when appliances such as air-conditioning units and refrigerators tend to run more often to cope with rising temperatures.

She said there are several measures residents can take to cut consumption and bring down their monthly bills.

"Run the A/C for a few hours. Make sure that you get the room nice and cool and then you turn off the A/C and you use your fan and the fan will keep the room cool for the rest of the night.

Instead of having persons go into the fridge every minute opening the fridge and letting out the cool air and making the fridge work harder, why don't you put all of the water, all of the drinks in an igloo on the kitchen counter so that the children can just grab what they need from the igloo rather than open the fridge every other minute."

Callum also pointed to another factor behind higher bills: running multiple appliances in different rooms at the same time. She said that pattern can push energy use up sharply without customers realising it. She noted, however, that some people deliberately choose greater comfort during the summer and accept that their bills will rise as a result.

"So, at the end of the day, it's all about how much electricity you use. This is something that is within your control. So, yes, at the $54 per kilowatt hour, if you use 200 kilowatt hours, you're going to pay just over $10,800. But if you use 300 kilowatt hours, you will go up at the same rate of $54 per kilowatt hour. You your bill will go up to about $16,200. So, it's all in the usage, and you have control over that."