JPS notes electricity cutbacks

The Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS) says customers have been reducing their electricity consumption amid the global economic crisis.



Statistics from a JPS press release show that overall electricity consumption for 2008 had been less than electricity usage for 2007.



The company says the highest demand for any one day in 2007 was 621-megawatt hours, compared with 629-megawatt hours in 2007.



The company says despite the reduction in consumption for the year, consumption in December 2008 was on par with that for December 2007.



The JPS believes that conservation, in response to increased fuel prices, could be among the reasons for the reduction in consumption in 2008.



Last year saw numerous JPS customers mounting protests outside the company’s offices in several parishes after electricity bills began to soar.



However, a significant plunge in the cost of oil on the world market has seen local electricity costs trending down.