JPS Restores Power to 94% of Customers After Hurricane Melissa, CEO Says

The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) has restored electricity to 94 per cent of its customer base following the widespread outages caused by Hurricane Melissa, CEO Hugh Grant announced on Sunday.

Grant shared the update during the official unveiling of JPS’s emergency mobile power generation unit in Westmoreland. The restoration effort, he noted, has brought power back to more than 500,000 customers, leaving fewer than 38,000 of the nearly 700,000 customers still without supply.

According to the JPS CEO, the restoration effort has largely been completed in the eastern and central parishes, where more than 99 per cent of customers now have electricity. In Hanover and Trelawny, the company has restored service to over 95 per cent of customers.

Grant further reported that St James now has electricity for more than 90 per cent of customers. Restoration in the western parishes remains ongoing, with Westmoreland and St Elizabeth each recording more than 60 per cent of customers back on supply.

The CEO said JPS will continue its work through the “last mile” phase of restoration, emphasising that the company is not taking progress for granted.

Grant also committed to achieving 96 per cent restoration by the end of January.

Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall on October 28 as a Category 5 storm, caused extensive damage across Jamaica, with the western parishes among the hardest hit.