OUR urges JPS to exert greater effort on gov't to recover debt
The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) says the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) should exert greater effort to recover monies owed to it by the Government.
The OUR’s urging came in a statement yesterday responding to criticisms from the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) about its decision not to grant a rate review request to the JPS.
The PSOJ has argued that the OUR’s decision compelling the JPS to cut its non-fuel rate, among other things could scare off foreign investors.
However, in its statement, the OUR said it followed all the appropriate methodologies and that it must balance the interests of customers with service providers.
Additionally, the OUR pointed out that it would be unfair if it had granted a request from the JPS to recover US14 million from customers as a result of losses associated with foreign exchange fluctuations.
The OUR said if it had granted that request, the JPS would be recovering the outstanding sums even from customers whose accounts are up-to-date.
The regulator says the JPS needs to focus on minimising its exposure and revenue collection, which includes collecting from the Government which owes millions of dollars.
The regulator is also urging the JPS to lessen its exposure to the risk of foreign exchange fluctuations by making payments to Independent Power Providers in Jamaican Dollars.
