JPS today revealed that its no longer viable and creditors are about to pull the plug on the company because of its failure to maintain stipulated earnings to debt ratio. The company’s CEO indicated today, that JPS needed to maintain a earnings to debt ration of 3:1 and for the last financial year they were unable meet that target for any of the four quarters. The CEO indicted that they were given waiver after waiver, but with no improvement in the financial fortunes of the company, its creditors have decided to pull the plug.
The CEO revealed that the company paid over to the OUR approx US$20M in fines and that along with the rampant theft has pushed the company over the fiscal precipice.
I would like to use this medium to offer the JPS a low cost method, that will not totally eliminate throw up but should help them reduce this area of theft.
I would suggest that JPS start the using PVC pipe to cover the distributions lines in the areas where theft are rampant, this would render throw up useless and though cheap would go a far way in reducing theft.
Over to you JPS.
Warren's Blog 
I often times wonder why any company would invest in a country the likes of Jamaica. We hear how JPS is making billions off the backs of Jamaicans and viewed in many quarters as the “evil” company without a conscience.
Reading the Observer (5/9/2013) we saw where the Minister of Agriculture is looking for the GOJ to spend over $200M for disconnection of illegal connections from Sugar Factories’ powerlines and how the Government was paying millions per year for electricity (and water) to nearby communities. Why would the government have to pay JPS $200M for disconnection of these illegal connections?
Jay, although your PVC idea sounds good on paper, knowing the ingenuity of our Jamaicans, they will find a way to defeat such a system in no time. They will work in concert with the very same JPS subcontractors to circumvent that system. Before you know it, the PVC pipe would magically have “holes” in all the right places. From my limited understanding, a lot of these connections are not “throw up”, but carefully/professionally made connections, that comes with lifetime warranties from the resident “Electrical Engineer”, some of whom works directly/indirectly for the power company. 🙂
We need to adopt other measures, such as the requirement that all construction sites throughout the country be required to have temporary power at all sites before any construction work can commence or Permit granted. These Jobsite power source would be billed a minimum charge, irrespective of usage, to force on-site works to use the legal connection as oppose to these throw ups. I have witnessed with my own eyes where a work will do “throw ups” at a construction site to power their “power tools”. The same is true of the “power hungry” mobile music system operators.
We spend an inordinate amount of our time blaming politicians for all the ills of our country, when in reality, our people are just as corrupt or even moreso than our Politicians. Again I ask, why would any outside investor seek out Jamaica to invest their money, given the level of dishonesty that is so pervasive, given our culture of entitlement. I suspect that JPS will eventually become 100% GOJ own and operated entity in the not too distant future. We will be back to square one, with Islandwide rolling blackouts, as we hear the echo across the island….lite gaan again?
Test , I am aware that “we Jamaicans” may defeat the new system, but it will take some time and effort to figure it out, which will give JPS sometime to come up with new ideas.
Electricity theft in Jamaica is an “epidemic”.
People say I keep defending JPS, but that is not so, instead what I have sought to do is to provide insight and clarification as it relates to some misconception that exist.
Sorry Jay, better technical “solutions” than this have been defeated in less than 5 minutes without any help from JPS or its contractors. A thief is a thief.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/JPS-facing-death_14238670
Amazing statistics!! Even the GOJ is tardy with their payments to JPS, racking up huge outstanding balances.
Illegal connections removed
She said for the first three months of this year more than 54,000 illegal connections (throw-ups) were removed; 75 persons arrested and approximately 36,000 electricity audits conducted.
The JPS has also intensified the introduction of its Residential Automated Metering Infrastructure (RAMI) tamper-resistant metres with more than 22,000 persons connected at a cost of approximately $1,000 each. In addition, a special unit has been established to go after the commercial entities and other large users involved in electricity theft.
But Tomblin noted that these measures have not significantly reduced the level of electricity theft across the island.
“Estimates are that we still have 150,000 or up to 200,000 households stealing electricity and that’s against the backdrop of less than 600,000 customers … that could be a third of the people stealing so that is significant.”
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130510/lead/lead3.html
JPS probably needs to start looking into wireless power/electricity. It would be pretty hard to throw up lines to connect to thin air……
Hahaha
Seriously it is very very bad indeed
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from LIME.
Sure, in the next 40 years or so, when the technology is developed and the infrastructure rolled out.
Don’t see why they have to wait 40 years. There is at the moment some companies developing the technology (I think one or two are even at the demonstration phase for interested persons and companies). JPS can wait 40 years (by which time it will have surely been wound up as a private entity due to mounting losses) or they can bite the bullet and try to be ahead of the curve because their situation demands it. At the very least trying out some wireless electricity technology in areas of high theft as a pilot project should be worth it, if it shows that through the adoption of the existing wireless power technology they can reduce losses due to electricity theft. They could even keep some “wires” in place between transmitters to act as support for the transmitters (which would require a different kind of wire of course) and when new lines are thrown up but receive no electricity and when attempts to throw lines on the transmitters fails to garner electricty then they will know if it works and deserves to be implemented in certain areas.
Covered or coated cables has been tried, tested and failed many years ago. You spend all that money and there is a 5cent method to break it. It so simple I wont mention it.
Jon, I doubt you want your grid operator running such “experiments”. Grid operators employ proven technologies. In any event, the idea is to continue spending millions more than the actual value of the theft to stop a social problem. 50% of water is given away in Jamaica, not lost due to leaks.