John Myers Jr., Staff Reporter
MATTHEWS
PRESIDENT OF the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), Charles Matthews, is appealing to the Government for the removal of all taxes from fuel used to generate electricity in a bid to minimise further increases in the cost of electricity to consumers.
In trying to clear the air on the reasons behind the recent increases in electricity bills, Mr. Matthews blamed the rapid increase in the price of oil as the main force driving up electricity costs.
He disclosed that JPS, the country's sole supplier of electricity, has so far spent $15.9 billion on fuel this year, $5.6 billion more than what the company spent on fuel over the same period last year. He said the company uses close to 20,000 barrels of oil each day to meet the energy needs of the country.
ENERGY-SAVING MEASURES
Mr. Matthews further suggested that the Government reimplement daylight
saving time as another means of reducing electricity bills by reducing energy
consumption or "we could turn the lights off for limited periods to keep the electricity costs down." However, he questioned how many consumers would be willing to subscribe to this measure.
According to the JPS head, who was addressing a weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Kingston yesterday at the Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston, "Drastic times demand drastic measures (and) we must engage everyone in the search for real solutions."
He said the situation with the high price of oil and the resulting increase in electricity bills will not be resolved any time soon and the country should work together to find both short-term and long-term solutions.
In fact, he warned that "this trend (the rise in oil prices) will, no doubt, result in higher electricity bills, as consumers in other parts of the world are already learning."
Meanwhile, the JPS president said the company was in talks with the Government regarding negotiations for an affordable supply of liquefied natural gas from Trinidad.
