OUR not helping us, says MSME

Professor Rosalea Hamilton, president of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Alliance, says complaints by its members to regulators about sharp increases in electricity bills, following the installation of new Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) meters, seem to be falling on deaf ears.

Hamilton said yesterday that small business enterprises are becoming increasingly impatient with the pace at which the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) is investigating the sharp increases.

According to Hamilton, the regulatory body had reportedly started its probe late last year but, to date, the agency has not made any significant strides in its investigation.

Speaking with The Gleaner, Hamilton also raised concerns about how the JPS's kVA (kilovolt amperes) charge is applied to businesses.

The MSME president said she had received complaints from her membership about JPS bills with kVA charges being applied up to six months after the closure of the business and disconnection of the electricity supply.

"I think it is unconscionable that the JPS could disconnect your electricity and you are paying six months after," she lamented.

The Gleaner examined a copy of a bill with the 'current reading' showing zero and a kVA charge of $47,666.30.

Unconscionable elements

The MSME Alliance maintains that the "unconscionable elements" of JPS bills and practices include:

1. Apparent inaccuracies of the new JPS meters.

2. Discriminatory pricing.

3. Extortionary kVA/demand charges.

4. Incomprehensible fuel and IPP charges.

5. Burdensome 10 per cent GCT.

6. The double-taxation mess recently reported, where consumers are taxed for diesel oil already taxed by JPS.

7. Heartless disconnection practices.

8. Time-wasting runaround.

9. JPS monopoly.