The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) has extended its grace period for paying electricity bills by a month, giving customers until September 15 to make payment and avoid disconnection.

Further, customers who have been without supply since Hurricane Beryl passed Jamaica on July 3 but have received bills will have them cancelled.

Energy Minister Daryl Vaz made the announcements during a press conference at the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport Wednesday morning.

He said the period runs from August 15 to September 15.

“So it means that there will be no disconnections until September 15 which is commendable based on the suffering of so many people, even those who have got back light and just simply can't pay the bill because they have been damaged so badly and their livelihoods have been affected,” said Vaz.

He said, at his insistence, JPS will continue to facilitate flexible payment plans for people who need more time to pay. He said requests are being dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

JPS will cancel the bills and generate new bills representing zero consumption for customers who received bills despite not having a power supply.

He said these persons would have received estimated bills.

“Again, this is good news. It means that for those persons who have not had their lights restored that were affected by Beryl and received estimated bills or any other kind of bills, those bills will be zero rated and therefore there will be no funds owed to the JPS on those accounts,” he said.

JPS has been heavily criticised for the massive increases in customers' bills which, the company said, should be attributed to high fuel charges and the exchange rate.

- Kimone Francis

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