96% Theft on St. John’s Road – 7th Transformer Replaced Today Due to Burning Caused by Illegal Connections

October 5, 2021

Today (October 5), JPS replaced the 7^th transformer on St. Johns Road in Spanish Town, St Catherine, due to illegal connections and theft destroying six transformers since the start of the year.  The community has a theft rate of 96%, with 25 out of the 650 residents being legal JPS customers.

Transformers typically have a lifetime of 15 to 20 years, but this community has managed to destroy six of these in nine months, at a cost of J$1.6Million.

JPS has been pulling down throw-ups, conducting meter audits, investigating accounts, installing anti-theft networks and conducting community renewal interventions in several communities in an effort to reduce theft. This scourge requires both government and private support; community upliftment; and consideration of the expansion of the social safety net to include electricity and water services.

JPS reminds the public that theft of electricity creates reliability issues, and is a significant safety hazard with a high risk of fire and electrocution to both paying customers and those who are illegally extracting electricity.