JLP wants debate on state of power supply

Shaw

THE JAMAICA Labour Party (JLP) has charged that the spate of power cuts which has been affecting the island since April will continue for a longer period than that announced by the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo), because the company's reserve margin has fallen significantly.

The party has asked the Government to have a full-fledged parliamentary debate on the state of JPSCo's electricity generating capacity and its future prospects, in an effort to throw some light on the islandwide outages, which have been affecting production and commerce and inconveniencing domestic users.

In a joint statement issued yesterday, JLP spokesman on public utilities, Russell Hadeed, and deputy leader, Audley Shaw, who speaks on public utilities in Parliament, charged that JPSCo's reserve margin above peak demand, which should be 50 per cent or 255 megawatts, is now at a mere 120 megawatts or less than 25 per cent.

"This means that the plan by the JPSCo to install a 25 megawatt Gas Turbine this summer will not make a dent in the reserve margin and the power cuts can therefore be expected over a longer period of time than announced by the company, as the reserve margin cannot allow for the timely maintenance of generating units," the statement said.

Earlier this month, JPSCo officials told The Gleaner that several of its electricity generators have been working overtime, and well beyond their maintenance cycles, and would soon have to be withdrawn for "urgent and overdue maintenance tasks". It advised that maintenance operations could prolong the power outages until November, thereby further setting back the deadline date for a return to normal service.

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