Government demands answers from JPS on Friday's island-wide blackout

The government has summoned the Jamaica Public Service company to an emergency meeting on Saturday, following Friday night’s all-island outage.

The meeting has been scheduled for 2PM.

Energy Minister Daryl Vaz, in his statement on the matter, said  the outage and protracted delay in restoration of service cannot be tolerated.

He said there will be a thorough investigation into the incident, which he has called unacceptable, and, therefore, at the meeting with the JPS, he expects to be updated on the cause of the outage and what measures will be implemented to limit the chance of a recurrence.

Vaz has commended the effort of workers employed to the light & power company who responded to ensure that customers were re-connected.

Following the meeting with the JPS, a press briefing will be held at the JPS Command Centre.

JPS 

In an update on the matter, Hugh Grant, President & CEO of JPS, confirmed on Saturday morning that electricity had been restored to all customers who were affected by the power outage, with the last set of customers being energized at 6:30 a.m.

He said the preliminary investigation has revealed that major disruption to its systems occurred following heightened lightning activity across sections of the island, including where its key infrastructure is located, particularly in the vicinity of some of our major generating stations, our major transmission facilities on our major substations.”

The company says its Incident Command System will remain active, as teams continue to monitor the electricity network to ensure stability and carry out investigations into the cause of the outage.

“We regret any inconvenience caused to our customers at this time and wanna thank you for your patience and understanding. We are committed to getting to the bottom of what transpired,” he said.