Morgan THE OFFICE of Utilities Regulation (OUR) yesterday called for an "independent investigation" of the operations of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo), which has resulted in load-shedding since February, and the frequently extended deadlines for a return to normality.
Specifically, the OUR, the utilities regulator, wants a probe of the situation which has resulted in further delays in the return to service of the company's No. 3 generator at its Old Harbour Bay power station, St. Catherine.
The utilities watchdog said it expects a report from the light-and-power company within the next six weeks, detailing the steps being taken to return the No. 3 generator to service and the problems that have been encountered with its transformer.
But while calling for an independent probe, Paul Morgan, deputy director-general of OUR, said he would be satisfied with an investigation carried out by the Atlanta-based Mirant Corporation, JPSCo's new owners. "I don't want the line staff within the company (JPSCo) to do the investigation. I'll be quite happy if Mirant would organise it themselves," he told The Gleaner yesterday. He said Mirant had the expertise that would allow it to get to the root of the problem. "I think as owners they would be interested in doing that," he said.
The OUR suggested that the JPSCo was facing difficulties because it had lost the services of some of its most skilled personnel in the recent redundancies there. "The OUR...cannot help but question whether the company in fact has the leadership and technical capability to effectively deal with the problems at the power plant given the exodus of expertise from the JPS in recent times," OUR's statement said.
Reports from some former employees suggest some key areas were affected during the voluntary redundancies. "We are responding to those rumours also," Mr. Morgan said, noting that it was no secret that JPSCo had "lost much of the leadership in the power stations" during the redundancies. "I'm not saying that this is the case but I think we have a right to ask the question."
The report on the investigation should give an assessment of the available skills within the company and if they are found to be deficient, it should include proposals to strengthen the expertise in the particular area. The OUR has demanded that it be provided by Wednesday, May 9, with the schedule of activities to return the No. 3 generator to service by mid-May.
In its letter to JPSCo president Charles Matthews, the OUR expressed concern that the further downtime of the generator will inconvenience consumers, disrupt commercial and industrial activities in the country's economy and also affect the company's own system stability.
JPSCo said on Wednesday that power outages, now into a fourth month, would continue for another two weeks. This is so despite assurances from the company's management and Robert Pickersgill, Mining and Energy Minister, that load-shedding would have ended last month. The company said the continued blackouts were a result of "on-going problems" with its 65-megawatt No. 3 generator.
The unit was scheduled to return to service at the end of April following repairs caused by a fire in March. It was returned to service Monday night but soon developed problems with its transformer and is now expected to be out of service for another two weeks.
The Gleaner reported yesterday that the nightly power cuts were beginning to have a negative impact on students preparing for final examinations later this month. Parents and students have complained that with the power cuts being more frequent than advertised, homework and research were being severely hampered.
The company failed to respond to Gleaner queries on the investigation and suggestion that it was short on the required expertise.
