JPS restores islandwide power after lightning-linked grid failure

Jamaica’s electricity supply was restored by 6:30 a.m. Saturday, June 6, after an islandwide blackout late Friday night disrupted homes, businesses, motorists and essential services during heavy rainfall.

Jamaica Public Service said the outage followed a system failure and that generation units were restarted in phases, with early restoration reported in sections of Kingston and St. Andrew, St. James, Clarendon and St. Catherine. JPS apologised to customers and said specialists were working through the night to return supply.

Energy Minister Daryl Vaz described the incident as unacceptable and said the country’s grid had been fully restored by morning. At a stakeholder briefing at JPS’ New Kingston head office, Office of Utilities Regulation Director General Ansord Huitt said the OUR had asked JPS for a preliminary report by Monday, while the regulatory framework allows 30 days for a fuller incident report and root-cause analysis.

JPS chairman Hugh Grant said preliminary information pointed to significant lightning activity in the Corporate Area near key generating, transmission and substation assets. He said five transmission lines from a major substation were lost, triggering a cascading failure that shut down generation across the island. Officials said a fire at Up Park Camp was not connected to the grid shutdown.

Opposition energy spokesman Phillip Paulwell said Jamaicans deserve answers, noting that a similar islandwide outage in August 2016 had led to a formal probe and recommendations to the OUR. He called for clarity on whether those recommendations were implemented and urged JPS to publish a transparent account.

Vaz said telecommunications providers Flow and Digicel reported that connectivity in affected areas had largely returned, helped by backup power systems, though some customers could still see intermittent service while commercial electricity stabilised.

In other news, police said a toddler died after a two-vehicle crash on Peppermain Road in St. Elizabeth on Saturday morning. His 18-year-old mother was listed in critical condition after the Toyota Voxy they were travelling in collided with a Nissan pickup. Four people were taken to Mandeville Regional Hospital.

The Meteorological Service said a trough near the central Caribbean should bring cloudy weather, showers and thunderstorms through Tuesday, especially across eastern and south-central parishes. Marine interests along the south coast were urged to exercise extreme caution.

Operation Shelter JA and partners also delivered container homes to hurricane victims in St. James, Hanover and Westmoreland on Friday, June 5, including families in Baker’s Set and Cambridge in South St. James.