OUR demands JPS blackout report after islandwide power restoration

The Office of Utilities Regulation has told Jamaica Public Service to deliver an initial report by Monday on the islandwide power failure that began about 9:00 pm on Friday, June 5 and continued into Saturday, June 6.

The request came after JPS advised that electricity had been returned to customers across Jamaica. In a statement issued Saturday, the OUR said it was working with the power company to establish what caused the outage, review whether JPS handled the incident properly, and receive an update on the condition of the electricity system.

The regulator said the preliminary submission must set out the order in which events occurred, the factors that helped trigger the disruption, and how the incident affected generation, transmission, distribution and service to customers.

The OUR has also required JPS to state what immediate fixes are being taken to reduce the chance of a repeat. The agency said the document will come ahead of a fuller report, which JPS must provide within 30 days of power being restored under the Electricity Act, 2015.