Complaints to OUR double in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl

There was a 103 per cent increase in the number of times consumers sought the help of the Office of Utilities Regulation's (OUR's) Consumer Affairs Unit (CAU) following the passage of Hurricane Beryl, the agency says.

It says during the 2024 July-September period the CAU received 1,581 contacts, compared to 778 in the 2024 April-June period.

The information is contained in OUR's Quarterly Performance Report (QPR) for 2024 July to September, representing the quarter immediately following Hurricane Beryl.

The Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS) registered the largest block of complaints with 908 or 57 per cent of the contacts received, followed by the National Water Commission with 256 contacts or 16 per cent.

Billing matters, at 50 per cent, remained the main reason utility consumers contacted the CAU, representing a three-percentage point increase compared to the preceding quarter.

JPS and NWC accounted for the most billing-related matters, with 549 (35 per cent) and 169 (11 per cent), respectively.

The OUR says some of the billing matters, specifically high consumption and estimated billing, related to Hurricane Beryl.

At 29 per cent of total contacts, service interruption remained the second highest reason for customer contact with the CAU for the review period.

Meanwhile, the OUR says the data indicated that JPS committed 20,648 guaranteed standards breaches during the quarter, representing a 13 per cent increase over the preceding period. These breaches attracted compensatory payments of approximately $40.64 million. 

However, the OUR says no compensatory payments were made as JPS is awaiting a response from the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport for force majeure relief (suspension) from the guaranteed standards for the period 2024 July 2 to August 12.

NWC's guaranteed standards compliance report indicates that 3,987 breaches were committed during the review period, representing a 40 per cent increase over the preceding period. These breaches had a potential payout of approximately $18.53 million.

However, actual payments amounted to approximately $5.26 million, or 28 per cent of total potential payments, and were made through automatic credits to the affected accounts.

The remaining 72 per cent of potential payments not made include those breaches for which the affected customers did not submit the required claim forms for validation.           

Follow The Gleaner on X and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.