JPS completes restoration of electricity impacted by Hurricane Beryl 

Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) has reported that it has completed the restoration of electricity to customers who lost supply as a result of the passage of Category Four Hurricane Beryl, which impacted the island on July 3.

The announcement was made on Thursday, August 29 by JPS President and CEO, Hugh Grant, who was speaking at a back-to-school event in Ginger Hill, St Elizabeth.

“We know how difficult it has been for our customers in St Elizabeth who have been without power for an extended period,” Grant said.

“That’s why we brought in all the resources available and our teams have been working around the clock these past few weeks. And today, we can say that we have successfully gotten supply back to our customers - three days ahead of the August 31 milestone that we had set and right in time for back to school. This is so important for our people,” he said.

St Elizabeth was the parish most badly affected by the hurricane which wreaked havoc on the JPS power delivery infrastructure, causing extensive damage and, in some areas, complete destruction.

“While we focussed on getting supply back to our customers in St Elizabeth as quickly as possible, we had to start a process of rebuilding. Sections of the network have to be completely rebuilt, and lines have to be relocated because of extremely difficult terrain. This rebuilding process will continue for a while as we work to make the network even more resilient,” Grant indicated.

The JPS CEO said although all the power distribution lines in the parish had been energised, there may be a few isolated cases of customers being without supply because of damage to their premises or access challenges (such as the Holland Farm National Irrigation Commission pump).

“We are urging anyone who is still without supply to contact us, and we will have a team check on your situation as quickly as possible,” he promised.

Member of Parliament (MP) for North Western St Elizabeth, JC Hutchinson, who was also in attendance at the event, noted that he was no longer getting reports of persons claiming to be out of supply, for which he was thankful to JPS.

Black River Mayor Richard Solomon had words of commendation for the new JPS president, who is in his fourth week on the job.

“Since the new President and CEO, Hugh Grant,” he told the audience, “we have felt his leadership and we have felt his commitment.”

Solomon also praised the residents of St Elizabeth for their great resilience after being the worst affected parish in the island, due to the passage of Hurricane Beryl.

JPS also thanks its main St Elizabeth stakeholders in the restoration process: the Members of Parliament and the mayor for their strong partnership and support, as well as the OUR and its Director General, Ansord Hewitt.

The company also thanks Energy Minister Daryl Vaz for his support and care for the customers, which JPS said align with the utility’s own perspectives and care for the entire customer base.

The company also extended a special thank you to the people of Jamaica for their patience during the challenging times, and said it remains committed to excellent service with the customer at the centre of all that it does.