JPS Restores Electricity to 84% of Customer Base

The Jamaica Public Service (JPS) is reporting that electricity has been restored to 84 per cent of its customer base as at December 15, following the passage of Hurricane Melissa on October 28.

Providing an update during a press conference at the PCJ Building in New Kingston on December 16, Minister of Energy, Transport and Telecommunications, Hon. Daryl Vaz, said this represents one of the fastest large-scale post-hurricane restoration efforts Jamaica has seen, given the severity and geographic spread of the damage.

He noted that in the last 48 hours, restoration teams successfully restored supply to the Rock River National Water Commission (NWC) pumping station in Clarendon, supporting water services to surrounding communities, and re-established electricity from Anchovy to Bickersteth in St. James, reconnecting homes, businesses, and key services.

The Minister said that these are not isolated successes but are part of a sustained acceleration strategy now fully in motion.

He further noted that 97 per cent of major public and private hospitals islandwide have now been restored, including Kingston Public Hospital, Bustamante Hospital for Children, Cornwall Regional Hospital and many others across all regions.

Mr. Vaz acknowledged that while many parishes are now near full restoration, the most severe impacts remain concentrated in the western parishes, where restoration continues under challenging conditions.

As at the latest update, Westmoreland has approximately 88 per cent of customers still without service; St. Elizabeth, 50 per cent; St. James, 45 per cent; Trelawny, 39 per cent; and Hanover, 36 per cent.

“At the same time, it is important to note that Kingston and St. Andrew, St. Catherine, Portland, and St. Thomas are essentially fully restored, with outages at or near zero,” the Minister said.

“This uneven impact reflects the intensity of damage in the western region rather than any lack of effort, and it is precisely in these hardest-hit parishes that resources, crews, and international support are now being most heavily concentrated,” he noted.