The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has reassured the public that there are no plans to raise electricity rates to strengthen the Electricity Disaster Fund (EDF) following Hurricane Beryl.

The assurance follows concerns that the OUR might be considering such an increase after recent statements about the EDF’s recovery efforts.

At a webinar on November 8, the OUR explained that the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS) has submitted preliminary estimates of approximately US$26.1 million to cover recovery costs from the hurricane’s damage. However, this sum is still subject to approval following further assessment, and it would be drawn from the EDF.

The EDF, established by the OUR in 2004, is a self-insurance fund designed to set aside a predetermined amount annually for disaster recovery. The OUR regularly monitors the fund and ensures it maintains a minimum adequacy threshold.

However, OUR Director-General Ansord Hewitt emphasized that there is no current proposal to increase electricity rates to replenish the fund.

“There is no proposal before us to increase customer contribution to the EDF. As the economic regulator, the OUR will analyse costs associated with the recent hurricane events to ensure their legitimacy. Naturally, we will also need to examine where the payment leaves the fund in terms of its ability to meet future claims and activate OUR’s usual consultation process with all stakeholders, to ensure transparency.  At this stage, that analysis has not yet been done, so any suggestion of the need for an increase is premature,” he said.

Additionally, Hewitt pointed out that the Electricity Licence, 2016, lays out specific guidelines for how and when electricity rates may be adjusted, typically through the review of tariff submissions from JPS, which occur either annually or once every five years. Therefore, any increase in electricity rates would follow these established procedures, not as a reaction to a single event like Hurricane Beryl on July 3.