PRESSURED BY public complaints against the utility companies, in addition to requests for rate increases submitted by some of them, the Government is to start debating the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) Bill in the House of Representatives, tomorrow.
The Bill was tabled by Minister of Industry, Commerce and Technology Phillip Paulwell in April. Under the OUR Act, the agency is mandated to receive and process applications for licences to provide utility services and make recommendations on these applications to the Minister.
However, as the Act now stands, it does not allow the OUR to regulate utility service providers which were in existence prior to the Act passed in 1995. The Bill is seeking to amend the Act, to extend the OUR's powers to regulate all its licensees as well as increase penalties under the Act.
However, the amendments which would give it the power to regulate utilities in operation prior to then were not approved by Cabinet until last February.
OUR deputy director general, J. Paul Morgan, told The Gleaner in March that an oversight in the drafting of the Act had created the problem. This oversight opened the door for the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo), the National Water Commission (NWC) and Cable & Wireless Jamaica to use secondary legislation to block the agency's authority.
The OUR has repeatedly complained about the length of time the utilities have taken to respond to complaints from the public, lodged through its office. JPSCo and Cable & Wireless are currently seeking rate increases which will have to be reviewed by the OUR.
