Restructuring of GCT on Electricity Bills Part of Bigger Effort to Reduce Costs

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Fayval Williams, says the move to restructure general consumption tax (GCT) on electricity bills for 2025 is part of an overall bigger effort to reduce electricity costs in Jamaica.

Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, recently announced the proposed reduction in GCT on electricity from 15 per cent to seven per cent next year.

Mrs. Williams said Jamaica ranks in the top 20 of countries globally with high electricity costs, at about US$0.35 or J$56 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

“If you have a small fridge, say a three and a half cubic feet fridge, it uses approximately two and a half kilowatt hours per day. That translates into $140 per day, which sounds like a small amount of money; however, when you multiply that by 30 days for the month, you’re talking about $4,200. So, add that to light, AC, fan, washing machine and you can see how your bill can get bigger very quickly,” she explained.

The Minister was speaking at a post-Cabinet press briefing held at Jamaica House on November 27.

Mrs. Williams said the restructuring of GCT on electricity bills will allow the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) to aggressively roll out, nationally, its prepaid service, giving Jamaicans more control over how much electricity they use and when they use it.

She noted that Jamaicans with prepaid service can buy whatever electricity they need and as often as they need it, so they can better match their income pattern with their affordability.

“The prepaid service will be available to anyone, uptown, downtown, country people, town people, landlords who have tenants. I understand that one of the biggest headaches for landlords is sometimes tenants who vacate the property and leave a high bill. They can better control that now,” she said.

“People who do Airbnb, they can convert to prepaid and they don’t have to fret about the bill when that Airbnb person leaves. So, there are immeasurable benefits to the restructuring of GCT on electricity because of the different types of innovative services that it will allow our power provider to offer to Jamaicans,” Mrs. Williams added.

The Minister pointed out that it is estimated that 30 per cent of those who use electricity in Jamaica are not paying for it, which puts undue stress on the grid.

“Unabated high levels of theft can lead to fires, which can result in the loss of lives as well as damage to extremely expensive equipment, such as transformers, fuses and other important hardware. Alongside that, we will work with the vulnerable Jamaicans to ensure safe access through house-wiring programmes, ensuring that we help in terms of the inspection, paying for the inspection of the house, so that they can get safe access to electricity,” Mrs. Williams said.