JPS to switch out 35,000 meters
Published:Friday | May 13, 2011 | 12:00 AM
The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) will be swapping out another 35,000 electricity meters for units with digital display, starting Monday.
The process will take more than seven months, and should wrap up by yearend.
The new meters will be distributed nationwide at corporate and residential premises, said JPS, at a cost of US$1.6 million (J$137.6m).
Though the programme officially begins next week, JPS said the new units have already been introduced at properties when changing out dysfunctional meters.
"The new electronic or digital meters have been approved by the Bureau of Standards Jamaica," JPS said
"They have digital display screens, and are therefore much easier to read than the older electro-mechanical meters."
The meter swap programme, though national, covers a fraction of JPS' customer base of 570,840, broken down as 509,677 residential, 59,103 commercial and 1,791 industrial, and 269 classified as 'other' in data provided by the company.
According to JPS, at each changeover, its representative will provide the customer at the premises with readings on both the old and new meters, as well as information on how to read the new unit.
A photograph of the final reading on the old meter will be kept for record purposes in case a customer wishes to query the final bill based on the old meter, the power company said.
Complete change-out, JPS says, will be done over a number of years.