Jamaica Public Service (JPS) customers will see an increase in their next electricity bills.

This following the Office of Utilities Regulation, (OUR’s) approval of the 2023 Annual Tariff Adjustment, submitted by the power company.

In a release, the OUR said customers will see an average 1.6% increase.

It said its decision became effective on August 9, and will be reflected in bills received for consumption following that date.

The OUR noted that in its application, JPS had estimated that a proposed 13.2% increase on Non-Fuel Tariff would have a bill-impact effect of approximately 0.8% increase for residential customers, and a 2.5% reduction in the average rates of commercial and industrial customers. 

However, the OUR said its analysis of JPS’s data suggests that the average overall increase for all customer categories would have been about 4.9%.

The OUR thus approved a 5.5% increase on JPS’s 2022 approved Non-Fuel Revenue Target, noting that this will result in an average bill increase of approximately 1.6%. 

The agency also approved a revenue target of $50.8 billion, some $4.3 billion less than the $55.1 billion proposed by JPS.

JPS’s 2023 Annual Review application is in keeping with the provisions of its Electricity Licence, which allows for the re-alignment of the company’s revenue targets each year, against inflation and foreign exchange rate movements, as well as its performance in the previous year.  

The Electricity License also provides for an Extraordinary Rate Review in the event of any exceptional circumstances that have a significant impact on the electricity sector and/or JPS that were not considered or known at the preceding 5-year rate review.