The Jamaica Public Service (JPS) says more than 420,000 or 62 per cent of customers now have
electricity, as a result of the company’s restoration efforts in the forty-eight hours following the
passage of Category 4 Hurricane Beryl.

While still in damage assessment mode, the company has utilised opportunities to repair and energise sections of the line that had sustained minimal damage.

Blaine Jarrett, JPS’ senior vice president of energy delivery, indicated that over the past two days, power was restored to over 184,000 customers in several communities across the island.

“While we managed to keep the lights on for about 35 per cent of our customers during the hurricane, about 448,000 lost service due to damage to the infrastructure. We are now making every effort to accelerate the restoration of service to those still without,” he said in a statement on Saturday (July 6).

“We understand that our customers are anxious for service to be restored immediately after the passage of the hurricane, and we remain committed to doing everything to get the lights back on as quickly and as safely as possible. However, electricity restoration is a complicated process that must be handled meticulously in order to protect our team members, our customers and the grid. Damage assessment is extremely important, especially in the first 24 hours after a hurricane,” explained Jarrett.

“The information from the assessment helps to determine the restoration strategy, how we allocate resources, and the steps we can take to expedite the restoration of supply to customers,” he added.

In keeping with its restoration protocol, JPS has been giving priority attention to the restoration of supply to critical facilities including airports, hospitals, water supply and telecommunication facilities. Several of these facilities are now fully restored, and others are expected to be energised today.

Below are the main areas in which JPS teams will be doing restoration work today: