Consultant to share in US$750,000 budget to investigate drivers of electricity loss in Jamaica, including theft

The government wants to hire a consultant to share US$750,000 (J$119 million) allocated to find out what drives electricity losses in Jamaica, including theft.

The Inter-American Development Bank and the European Union-Caribbean Investment Facility will fund the work.

The consultant will help the Ministry of Energy, Transport and Telecommunications (METT) draw up a national loss-reduction plan, according to a tender notice published this week.

“The consultant will support METT in developing an integrated, data-driven, and socially inclusive national electricity loss-reduction framework that addresses the technical, commercial, socioeconomic, and institutional drivers of electricity losses while promoting safe electrification, DER deployment, energy resilience and long-term decarbonisation,” the notice said. “DER” stands for distributed energy resources, such as rooftop solar and microgrids.

It asks bidders to show experience in energy affordability and community electrification, as well as regulatory and institutional assessments. It also asks for at least one assignment that combined loss reduction with a socioeconomic, regulatory or financing component.

Bidders must have completed at least three similar assignments in the past ten years. Bids are due on November 13. The selection will weigh quality and cost. The Financial Gleaner awaits a response to queries from the power regulator, the Office of Utilities Regulation.

“Estimated total contract value: US$750,000,” stated the tender. “The [METT] intends to apply part of the proceeds to payments for the engagement of a consultant.”

The problem is large

Jamaica Public Service Co. (JPS) system losses totalled 26.6 per cent of its net generation in 2025, according to its annual report. The figure combines technical losses, such as transmission inefficiencies, with non-technical losses, such as theft. JPS earned US$1.08 billion in revenue in 2025. Its on track to surpass that with US$511 million generated in revenue over six-months to June.

The tender notice does not mention theft by name. JPS however estimates theft alone costs it about US$200 million a year or about 20 per cent of system losses.

Jermaine Clarke, JPS’s manager of revenue security, research and planning, linked theft to Jamaica’s high power prices at the webinar in February. He reportedly said residential electricity costs in Jamaica run about 90 per cent above the world average and business costs about 60 per cent above.

The consultant study arrives as the government and JPS negotiate over the future of the utility’s all-island licence, which expires in July 2027. The government said in July 2025 that it would not renew the licence on its existing terms, which Energy Minister Daryl Vaz called ‘deeply flawed and in need of significant reform’. It rejected JPS’s request for an extension after Hurricane Melissa, it however agreed to lend the company US$150 million for restoration work.

Cabinet has approved draft terms for a new licence, to be negotiated with JPS under a non-disclosure agreement. The terms have not been published. Vaz told Parliament in May that if talks with JPS fail, “we will approach the international market to identify a provider.”

The government said losses will feature in the new terms. A ministry statement in March said the process includes ‘updated policies to address system losses and enhance grid resilience’.

business@gleanerjm.com