Ministry opens technical probe of JPS June 5 blackout findings

The Ministry of Energy has begun a full technical examination of documents filed by the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) on the islandwide power failure of June 5.

Energy Minister Daryl Vaz confirmed today that the Ministry now holds those JPS findings and reports, which relate to an outage that left customers offline for several hours.

He said the examination will proceed jointly with the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) and, where suitable, other agencies with a role in the sector.

A Ministry statement noted that JPS lodged the material inside the 30-day window set by the Government. The OUR, the Ministry added, received identical filings within that same deadline for its own regulatory assessment.

Mr. Vaz praised the prompt delivery. He stated that the Government intends to put every element of the findings through a rigorous, impartial check.

Protecting the public interest, tightening accountability, and turning any lessons from the exercise into concrete gains in how reliably and robustly Jamaica’s electricity grid performs are the main aims, the Minister indicated.

He also pledged that the Ministry will update Jamaicans as the work advances, and that any decisions or recommendations drawn from the reports will be shared promptly and openly.