Prepaid
electricity has been under testing in certain parts of Jamaica since April 2015
as reported in my blog article
entitled “JPS
Co's Prepaid Power now in Jamaica - How @myJPSonline PAYG means a Digital Meter
with smartphone App for 5 KWh Advances”.
So
it's nice to know that the JPS Co has finally decided to expand the PAYG (Pay
as You Go) Prepaid Meter system islandwide as noted in the article “JPS
to offer prepaid meters islandwide next year”, published Friday December
18, 2015 by Steven Jackson, The Jamaica
Gleaner.
JPS
is planning a limited pilot of the programme across several parishes,
specifically:
1.
Kingston
2.
St Andrew
3.
St Catherine
They
already have some 800 plus customers testing out their PAYG (Pay as You Go)
Prepaid Meter system as noted in my blog article
entitled “800
for JPS Co's Prepaid Power in 2 Months - How @myJPSonline PAYG spreading like
Wild Fire among 2000 Guinea Pigs in the Summer of 2015”.
With
this latest guinea-pig trial, the JPS Co intends to sort out the bugs in the
system before a full islandwide roll out throught 2016.
Good
to note that Commercial and business operators will initially not have the
ability to test out the PAYG (Pay as You Go) Prepaid Meter system; this is
strictly for residential customers and Rate 20 (general services/small
commercial) customers who indicate that they're willing to be a part of this
experiment.
Interestingly,
Prepaid meters are not a part of JPS Co's strategy to combat electricity
theft.
Rather
it is aimed at giving options to customers who may find it difficult to pay for
electricity on a monthly basis, to quote a JPS Co Statement: "Prepaid
electricity service was never designed, and is not intended, as a tool to fight
electricity theft. It has, however,
[proven] to be a very effective tool for budget-conscious customers who want
more control to tailor their consumption to match how much they have to spend
at any given time".
So
with Prepaid Electricity meters set to reduce electricity usage, how will this
make JPS Co more money?
JPS Co's Prepaid Meters
coming in 2016 - Why Prepaid Meters adoption will explode in Jamaica
Actually
it won’t, really! JPS Co is expecting reduced revenues from the implementation
of Prepaid power, even though the rates for Prepaid power users will be
significantly higher.
In fact, they're predicting as much as JA$400
million per annum reduction in revenue as noted in the article “JPS
Stands To Lose $400m Yearly From Prepaid Meters”, published Sunday December
6, 2015 by Steven Jackson, The Jamaica
Gleaner.
In
the first three Quarters of 2015, JPS Co made the following:
1.
US$583 million in revenue
2.
US$23.7 million in net profit
3.
US$12.5 million in net profit in 2014
They're
expecting an even greater increase in profits once a new tariff is implemented
based on discussion with the OUR (Office of Utilities Regulation), to quote JPS
Co in a statement: “Designing and developing a new tariff for a new utility
service can be a complex matter and JPS and the OUR have been in discussions
for many months on the subject. This involved JPS making submissions to the
OUR, showing different forecasts of what we believe the demand for the new
service will be over time and the impact this will have on revenues, depending
on the rate and structure of the tariff design”.
Their
rollout of Prepaid power will give Jamaicans more choices as it relates to
paying for the Electricity they use, modernizing JPS Co in the process,
according to a JPS Co Statement quote: “It is intended for those Jamaicans who
have asked us for a payment option that can better assist them in predicting
and budgeting for their electricity bills. Although new to Jamaica, prepaid
electricity is a standard service product offered by many electric utilities
the world over for decades”.
Add
to that the fact that Digicel owned Paymaster is again processing bill payments
for JPS Co as noted in my blog article
entitled “Why
CONEC Mobile Money to pay JPS Co EBILL before Digicel Paymaster Mobile Money”.
This
hints at a coming possibility of being able to pay your Electricity bill via a
Mobile Money service, most likely as an upgrade to JPS Co’s Bill payment app.
With
this level of convenience, expect Prepaid Power to dominate the Electricity
landscape in 2016!
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