A Jamaica Public Service (JPS) employee works on a utility pole in Bridgeport, Portmore, St Catherine. The JPS is now spending $35.5 billion a year to stem theft. - file

The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) is intensifying its drive to clamp down on companies and individuals stealing large volumes of electricity.

According to the head of corporate communications at the JPS, Winsome Callum, the light and power company is now spending up to US$500 million (J$35.5 billion) a year to contain electricity theft.

As a result, Callum said, greater effort is being placed on identifying the more sophisticated thieves.

"We do pursue cases against anybody," Callum said on the Power 106 FM talk programme 'Real Business', earlier this week. However, she said the JPS always tried to first collect from offenders before pursuing legal action, as this was in the interest of the company.

Fines not paid to JPS

"When there is an arrest and somebody is charged, that person will go to court and is fined. That fine goes to the court and not the JPS."

At the same time, Callum said that for the first time in years, electricity theft was slightly reduced in 2007. She said at the end of the calendar year, a one per cent drop was recorded, breaking the two-per cent increase in electricity theft in the two previous years.

In the meantime, Callum said the JPS was seeking to become more efficient through the scheduled retirement of its generating units, with the first set slated to be done away with in 2015.

The problem of old generating units is said to have been a major cause of power outages.

The JPS corporate communications head also said the company was focusing on cutting the amount of electricity being lost in producing energy. Already the company has seen a drop from 10 to seven per cent, and it is trying to further reduce the figure to five per cent.

The JPS has since said the figure is J$500 million.