“Jamaicans
already have a Pre-paid Psychology”
President and CEO of JPS Co Kelly
Tomblin at The Jamaica Observer’s Monday Exchange dated Monday 12th
November 2012
JPS Co (Jamaica Public Service Company) is finally seeing the light, pun oh-so very much intended. This as by early 2013, Jamaica may soon be able to pay for their electricity in much the same way they currently top up their phones as stated in the article “Time to top-up your power”, published Wednesday, November 14, 2012 BY SHAMILLE SCOTT Business reporter, The Jamaica Observer.
JPS Co (Jamaica Public Service Company) is finally seeing the light, pun oh-so very much intended. This as by early 2013, Jamaica may soon be able to pay for their electricity in much the same way they currently top up their phones as stated in the article “Time to top-up your power”, published Wednesday, November 14, 2012 BY SHAMILLE SCOTT Business reporter, The Jamaica Observer.
JPS Co, it seems, is in tune with the
season and is still in a giving mood after they’ve been given the green light
for their parents, Marubeni of Japan and EWP (East West Power) of South Korea
to procure the LNG and build said LNG Plant as noted in my blog
article entitled “JPS
Co parents Marubeni and EWP mull decision to supply LNG - GOJ to eat Humble Pie
to avoid an Ice Age Continental Drift”.
Their investment in UTECH’s 100 KW Solar
Plant to power the Campus as note in my blog
article entitled “JPS
Co to build 100 KW Solar Plant at UTECH - Marubeni of Japan and EWP (East West
Power) Benevolence as LNG Project now Taken 2 the next Level for 2015AD”
has been their first act of benevolence post-LNG agreement.
The Catch: you have to upgrade to a
Digital Meter. JPS Co is currently installing \these new Digital Meter
islandwide. However, the software for their NOC (Network Operation Center) is
not yet in place to facilitate Remote Billing. That is to say, Prepaid
Electricity instead of Postpaid as currently is the case for most Telecom
Providers.
The fact that JPS Co is considering Prepaid
as is the case in the Telecoms world is the main reason why this article ended
up on for perusal and analysis in my blog. This, along with the above quote
would close this article nicely.
If you remember, JPS Co was cleared of
wrongdoing as relates to overbilling back in October 2011 as noted in my blog
article entitled “JPS Co cleared on Digital SmartMeters but chastized on
10-year backbilling - Future Plans from the Penguins of Madagascar”. JPS Co is
clearly moving ahead with this project, which should make many Jamaican cheer
as such a flexible facility for paying for Electricity should have long been
introduced in a country that has “Pre-paid Psychology”!
I did predict this coming service before
in my blog article as
explained in my blog article entitled “JPS Co New Digital Meters are all Smart Meters -
Winsome Callum's A Simple Twist of Fate” pointing out that
the JPS Digital Meters are in fact Smartmeters and they’ll be billable over
Telecom Provider LIME’s Network. Still sticking to that prediction.
Ditto too in my Geezam blog article entitled “JPS Co Analog Meter
upgrade heralds Remote Billing Revolution” which points out
that now only are the new Digital Meters to facilitate Remote Bill. JPSCo’ll
also introduce other services as well, with Prepaid Power being among them as
reprinted from my blog article and listed below:
1.
Pay-as-You-Go Electricity - pay for
electricity in much the same way that you top up you Mobile phone
2.
Prepaid Electricity - pay for
electricity in one (1) day, seven (7) day, fourteen (14) day or fortnightly or
thirty (30) day usage
3.
Flat Rate Postpaid Electricity - pay one
flat monthly payment based on a power audit to determine what you Class of
Electricity Usage
4.
Power Audits – Provider accurate remote
power auditing services for Business Customers
5.
Residential Solar PUC – as described in
my blog
article entitled “Google
invests US$75 million in Residential Solar PUC - Aliens in future Energy Market
Shakeup” to provide all the above services, minus
transmission costs
6.
MPU (Mobile Power Units) – Diesel
Generators, Solar Power or Wind Turbine Mobile sited in a vehicle that can
travel to a location to provide power for a large even in remote locations
Looks
like JPS Co fears the steady drumbeat of competition coming to Jamaica that the
ruling on Tuesday, July 31st 2012 as detailed in my
blog
article entitled “Justice
Brian Sykes says JPS Co exclusive license invalid - Energy Sector
Liberalization CURE and Bourne Legacy for Phillip Paulwell”
suggests.
Even as they appeal the ruling in Court, it’s already beginning to have a
negative effect on them.
This as
aside from facing Electricity theft, there is also wastage in their Network due
to inherent inefficiencies in both the Power Distribution Network as well as
the devices that connect to that Network drawing power even when off. This
phenomenon, the so-called Vampire Power as described in my
blog
article entitled “Ad
Valorem Gas, 10 percent GCT on Electricity and Alternative Energy - Night and
Day” , is a major reason why a lot of Jamaican’s electricity bill is so
high, as we mostly leave of Appliances and gadgets plugged in when not in use.
Within
the State’s Public Infrastructure, another example of Vampire Power is
Street-lighting that’s turning on in the day time when they should be off at
night for which a contract is needed to upgrade them all to Solar Powered LED
as suggested in my blog
article entitled “Alternative
Energy Contract for JPS Co Streetlight Upgrade Coming - JPS Co Winsome Callum's
Bourne Supremacy”.
The
other is the devices that are still being imported into the island that are
Energy inefficient. To this end, GOJ (Government of Jamaica) needs to support
more Electricity Efficient Devices coming into Jamaica as follows:
1. Air
Conditioning Units that are not Inverter based AND Solar Powered
2. Solar
Panels manufactured Jamaica. Cheaper due to the reduced damaged and transportation
costs as argued by Dwight Cousins, Energy Solutions Department Manager at
Isratech Jamaica Limited in his letter to Editor entitled “More
on Isratech's solar operation” published Sunday
November 11, 2012, The
Jamaica Gleaner
3. Incandescent
Bulbs. They should have been banned a long time ago and replaced with LED
(Light Emitting Diodes) and Fluorescent Bulbs as suggested in my
blog
article entitled “JPS
CEO Damian Obiglio wants Incandescent Bulb ban - Jamaican in the Twilight Zone”
4. Removal
of Duties on the importation of Wind Turbines and Solar Panels, the price of
which has been falling thanks to Economy-of-scale production in China as
explained in “Solar
power comes of age”, published Wednesday, April 11, 2012
BY PAUL RODGERS
Business Editor, The Jamaica Observer
Jamaicans
are holding its politicians to Vision 2030 demands for increased usage of
Alternative Energy to lower the cost of Electricity as summed up in my
blog
article entitled “Ministry
of Energy Clive Mullings alters the JPS Co License for Energy Sector
Liberalization - Jamaica and The Sun Salutes You”.
Minister
of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell is fulfilling that
promise of reducing Electricity costs via investments in Alternative Energy as
announced in the article “Paulwell
steps up bid for cheaper electricity”, published Sunday
November 25, 2012, The
Jamaica Gleaner.
To
this end, the OUR (Office of Utilities Regulation) has issued a RFP (Request for
Proposals) on Monday November 19th 2012 for Alternative Energy
projects to fill the gap of some 115 MW of Electricity for the Grid as stated
in the article “OUR
to issue RFP for renewable energy plants”, published Saturday,
November 24, 2012 11:44 AM, The
Jamaica Observer.
Thus
ultimate prize awaits Jamaica via the liberalization of the Energy Sector; A
transition to a Hydrogen-Electron Economy as stated in my blog
article entitled “JPS
Co parents Marubeni and EWP mull decision to supply LNG - GOJ to eat Humble Pie
to avoid an Ice Age Continental Drift”.
So
folks, dry your tears if you’ll be facing heavy Electricity Bills this
Christmas as summed up in the article “Dry
your tears and wipe those bills”, published Sunday
November 25 2012 by Camilo
Thame Business Co-ordinator, The Jamaica Observer.
This as aside from plugging everything out after you’re done using it as the
above article suggests to avoid Vampire Power, relief is coming in the form of JPS
Co The
Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn 2 (2012) introduction of
Prepaid Power Come next year in 2013.
And
all you have to do is upgrade to a JPS Co Digital Meter.
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