JPS customers to benefit from 53 per cent reduction in GCT – Holness

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced a 53 per cent reduction in the General Consumption Tax (GCT) on electricity from the current 15 per cent to seven per cent.

The reduction is set to take effect after the next Budget in March 2025.

Holness made the announcement on Sunday as he addressed the 81st annual conference of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) at the National Arena in St Andrew, where he argued the case for why the JLP should be given a third consecutive term in office when general elections are held by next year.

The prime minister said up to 30 per cent of Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) customers are unable to pay their electricity bills, which contributes to electricity theft.

He said JPS is also to remove the non-tax threshold and replace it with an "incentivised, compatible rebate of GCT for persons who use 200 megawatts of electricity or less per month". This, he said, will allow for the rollout of pre-paid electricity purchase, which the JPS will be required to implement nationally, but particularly in vulnerable communities.

Holness said with the simplified GCT arrangement, the JPS will also be required to introduce time-of-day pricing of electricity. This is to allow customers to benefit from better rates by arranging how they consume electricity in off-peak hours.

The prime minister said the Government will also move to scale up its pilot project of on boarding customers in vulnerable communities through the community electrification house wiring programme. This is to provide households on the programme with electrical outlets, lights and switches, and the General Electrical Inspector (GEI) certification.

“This will assist these communities in becoming a legal JPS customer. We reduce the tax burden on electricity and we will improve the efficiency of the electricity sector,” the prime minister stated.

He added that, “we will reduce the cost of living to you that electricity poses, and we will increase our growth prospects by having a more efficient electricity grid, thereby increasing our prospects for growing the economy.

“We’re going to transform the fiscal structure of the electricity market in Jamaica to ensure that it aligns with incentives, reduces the cost of on boarding, and increases options to the consumer,” Holness concluded.