Light theft costs JPS US$30 million annually

The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) is losing over US$30 million to electricity theft annually, despite measures to curtail the problem.

The light and power company says it is spending some US$30 million annually on measures to stem the problem, but it continues. JPS' president and CEO Kelly Tomblin says 14 per cent of the electricity produced is stolen, even as the the company absorbs the cost of the fuel used to produce it.

Since the start of the year, 38 persons have been arrested for electricity theft, over 5,700 meter irregularities have been discovered and over 14,000 illegal lines have been removed from the system.