Looks
like JPS Co has finally stepped into the
21st century as it relates to customer choices when it comes to
electricity. It will allow customer to better manage their Electricity usage
and keep themselves out of trouble as it relates to oweing JPS Co or their Landlord.
JPS Co is introducing the PAYG (Pay as You
Go Service) to some two thousand (2000) customers in parts of Kingston, St. Andrew
and St. Catherine in April 2015 as reported in the article “Prepaid
Electricity Is Here JPS Introduces option For Consumers Who Want To Better
Manage Their Energy Usage”, Published Sunday April 19, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner.
So
says JPS Co on their JPS Co Twitter feed as shown below.
JPS Accepting
Applications for #JPSPayAsYouGo
Prepaid Service ||http://t.co/dLjnOtHD9c
pic.twitter.com/o5Rd61XQ8G
—
JPS (@myJPSonline) April
20, 2015
JPS Co is now accepting application for
their PAYG Prepaid Power Program, effectively making you a Guinea-pig to test
out the new system.
This
is a test pilot to test the system and see how well it works as well as to determine
if any problems exist before an islandwide rollout. When that happens,
Jamaicans will be able to choose between having Prepaid or PAYG or Postpaid Power,
when you pay after you've used the Power.
JPS Co introduces Prepaid
Power to Jamaica - Global Trend that's pushing the introduction of Digital
Meters
Prepaid
Power first made its debut in the UK. Landlords love it and it has spread like wildfire
to the following territories:
1.
Australia
2.
Brazil
3.
Caribbean
4.
Europe
5.
India
6.
Indonesia
7.
Mexico
8.
South Africa
9.
United States
The
Prepaid Power system needs accurate Digital Meters to determine exactly how
much Power is being used by the customers as had been predicted in my Geezam article entitled “JPS
Co Analog Meter upgrade heralds Remote Billing Revolution”. So expect to
see JPS Co increase their deployment of Prepaid
Power Meters through the rest of 2015.
In
these more developed countries, person can check their Prepaid Power Credit
Balance and top up their Prepaid Power Balance Account via their smartphones,
Tablets and internet connected Laptops and computers.
Customers
effectively have more payment options than just Credit Cards, as they may possible
by able to pay using Mobile Money services, such as Apple Pay as explained in
my blog article
entitled “Apple
Pay accepted by @JetBlue Airlines - How to use Bitcoins on Apple Pay as Apple
Watch coming in April 2015”
Some
quick Facts on the spread of Prepaid Power worldwide:
1.
5.8 million Prepaid Power meters in use in Great Britain
in 207
2.
54% of South Africa's 7.3 million use Prepaid
Power, the highest deployment in the world according to ABS Energy
Research
3.
In the US of A, it’s actively being used
in Texas and Arizona
4.
Australian are particularly fond of Prepaid
Power as well
So
what about the Caribbean? The same is true, especially if you’re a Landlord.
JPS Co introduces Prepaid
Power to Jamaica - PAYG already popular in the Caribbean as Landlords can
collect
JPS Co has already conducted a test pilot in
2014 with customers. It was a success, with customers achieving some 35% in
savings due to the fact that they could see how much Power they were saving.
This
indicates that persons interested in Prepaid Power will have to get a Digital
Meter installed as described in my blog article entitled
“JPS
Co New Digital Meters are all Smart Meters - Winsome Callum's A Simple Twist of
Fate”.
It
has already been introduced in other countries in the Caribbean by other PUC (Power
Utility Companies), such as:
1.
Antigua
2.
Dominica
3.
Guyana
40%
of Dominica Electricity Services are using Prepaid Power since
November 2014 an indication that it’s very popular. This may be, possibly because
an awful lot of folks in Dominica live in rented accommodations and Landlord like
Prepaid Power, as their tenants cannot run off and not pay for their
electricity usage.
To
be fair, the JPS Co had promised this
service would have been launched in December 2014 as stated in my blog article
entitled “JPS
Co says Prepaid Power by December 2014 – How SolarMill Alternative Energy Solution
will be a part of Prepaid Power”.
It
fact, it should have come on stream back in July 2013 as not only had I written
about the idea of Prepaid Power in my blog article
entitled “Prepaid
Power coming in July 2013 - A Chip, a Pebble a Rock and a Block would make Prepaid
Power The Kings of Summer” but I’d actually had actually been interviewed
on Prepaid Power on CVM TV on Monday
May 20th 2013 as per the video below.
So
how does JPS Co Prepaid Credit Work?
How JPS Co Prepaid Power
Works - Weekends are not a problem as they’ll advance you 5 KWh
According
to the article in the Jamaica Gleaner, it’s basically as I’d predicted; very
similar to topping up with Prepaid Credit on your Mobile smartphone or regular feature
phone as described in my Geezam blog
article entitled “The
Prepaid Cycle and How Prepaid Credit gives your SIM Card access to the Prepaid
Network”.
For
those involved in the test-pilot, it’s free for those with 220 V systems, with
those having 110 V systems having to pay for the service, possible though
monthly installments.
The
customer then purchases their Prepaid Power Credit (That's what I'm calling
it!) from any of the thirty five (35) Bill Express locations islandwide, JPS Co Parish Offices. They get a printed
Voucher with a unique Voucher number or PIN (Personal Identification Number),
not unlike the printed Voucher credit that they can get from Telecom Provider
LIME or Digicel.
Once
they're home, they can add it via a CIU (Customer Interface Unit), a
keypad like interface resembling a control panel for electronics Security
System which JPS Co Technicians have to
install at your home in order to enable the service. As soon as it's added, you
get a fixed block of Power that lasts for a set period of time.
JPS Co Prepaid Power
Concerns - Needs to have Mobile Top Up and Mobile Money Options
Many
people had a concern that when your Prepaid Power Credit expired on a weekend,
you'd be out of Power until Monday when you could go to a Bill Express
locations islandwide or JPS Co Parish
Offices.
This
is still a concern, as the JPS Co PAYG
System doesn’t allow you to top up your credit via your Smartphone or even via
an smartphone App, be it on Google Play Store, Google Chome Store or the Apple
iTunes Store.
Instead,
unlike our local Telecom Provider, JPS Co
alerts you when your Prepaid Power Credit balance has dropped down to 5 kWh via
the keypad panel and advises them to add more Prepaid Power credit.
The
customer can then contact JPS Co's
Customer Care Center to get assistance with adding the Prepaid Power Credit,
which will for now involve advancing the customer a 5kWh block of Prepaid Power
Credit until the weekend or holiday is over, at which time they can go to any
of the thirty five (35) Bill Express Locations or JPS Co Parish Offices and top up their
Account.
This
is still a bit of an inconvenience as a Mobile App would help immensely. Even
better would be an option to use Mobile Money platforms such as CONEC Mobile Wallet,
the JCCUL (Jamaica Co-operative Credit Union League) and Mozido Jamaica's Mobile
Money platform that’s' already available at most Paymaster locations islandwide
as noted in my blog
article entitled “JCUES
now CONEC Mobile Wallet - Why CONEC Mobile Wallet still inconvenient despite
Paymaster and Remittances in the JCCUL-Mozido Jamaica mix”.
Interestingly,
unlike Prepaid Voucher Credit used in the Telecoms world, JPS Co claims that their Prepaid Power
Credit has no expiry date and cannot be stolen.
This
might not be true, as just like any Prepaid Voucher Credit, if the retailer at
the POS (Point of Terminal) location where you purchase the Prepaid Credit
decided to copy and enter it into their meter at home by sending that unique
PIN to their relative, they can effectively steal your Prepaid Power Credit.
Still,
it’s a test pilot being conducted in April 2015. Expect a full rollout by
September 2015, just in time for Christmas 2015, when the Power usage begins to
rise along with spirits during the festive season.
Here’s
the link:
JPS Co Twitter feed: @myJPSonline
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