Approximately 7,000 additional Jamaica Public Service (JPS) customers are expected to have their electricity restored by the end of February, as the utility company pushes toward full recovery three and a half months after Category 5 Hurricane Melissa devastated sections of the island.

Speaking at a media briefing, JPS President and CEO Hugh Grant said 97.5 per cent of the company’s 690,000 customers—roughly 673,000 households and businesses—have already been reconnected to the grid.

“Over the next two weeks, there will be some more significant progress,” Grant said. “Through the end of February, we expect to provide power to an additional 7,000 customers. This will reduce the number of customers without power to fewer than 10,000.”

The latest restoration effort comes as approximately 17,000 customers remain without electricity, primarily in the hardest-hit western parishes. These include 9,341 customers in Westmoreland, 6,370 in St. Elizabeth, 780 in St James and 253 in Hanover.

Grant assured affected residents that restoration efforts are ongoing. “We see you, we hear you, we care about you, and the work will not stop until every light is back on,” he said.

JPS expects that the majority of the remaining customers—more than 95 per cent of whom are located in Westmoreland and St Elizabeth—will have access to electricity between March and April 2026, once they are able to safely receive service.

However, Grant noted that approximately 40 per cent of the remaining customers are not yet ready for reconnection due to damage to their properties and internal electrical infrastructure. In those cases, electricity cannot be restored until repairs are completed.

The company said it is working closely with the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) and other community partners to assist residents in preparing their premises for safe reconnection.

Grant attributed the significant restoration progress to methodical planning, infrastructure investments and strengthened partnerships across both the public and private sectors. He highlighted collaboration with the Government of Jamaica, the National Water Commission, the National Works Agency, telecommunications providers Flow and Digicel, the Ministry of Education, regional utility group CARILEC and other stakeholders.

In a first for the company, Members of Parliament and councillors from severely affected parishes such as Westmoreland and St. James were integrated into JPS’s regional incident command centres, providing input into restoration priorities and response efforts.

From the outset, Grant said, the company placed customers at the centre of its restoration strategy, implementing enhanced pre-hurricane coordination with fellow utilities, a new incident command structure and expanded communication across multiple channels.

Innovations such as emergency mobile power generators also allowed essential services and businesses to resume operations in some communities while permanent grid repairs continued.

Grant praised Jamaican line workers, describing them as among the most experienced in the region. They were supported by overseas crews, particularly from North America, to accelerate restoration in areas where infrastructure damage was catastrophic.

JPS said estimated timelines for areas expected to be restored by the end of February will be published on its website by the end of this week.