Melissa power restoration continues in earnest; 33,000 customers still in the dark, JPS CEO tells PAAC

Representatives of the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) today appeared before Parliament’s Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC), where they sought to assure that the power company is working earnestly to restore electricity to customers still in the dark since Hurricane Melissa.

JPS President and CEO Hugh Grant told the committee that some 33,000 customers remain without electricity.

“As of this morning, we are actually at 95 per cent of our customers who have power. That means that 33,000 of our nearly 700,000 customers remain without power,” Grant said.

He described the restoration efforts as evidence of strong planning, dedication, and partnership between JPS, the Government, and other stakeholders.

More than 99 per cent of electricity has been restored in eastern and central parishes, the CEO explained.

Hanover, he said, has seen 97 per cent restoration, Trelawny 98 per cent, and St James 92 per cent.

Westmoreland and St Elizabeth were extensively damaged, Grant said, noting that the damage was not only to the electrical infrastructure but also to homes and businesses that are not in a condition to receive power.

He pointed out that the JPS electrical grid was designed to withstand a Category 3 storm, unlike Hurricane Melissa’s Category 5 gusts.

“In Westmoreland, we are more than 60 per cent restored, and in St Elizabeth, we are more than 70 per cent restored in terms of customers at this stage,” he explained, adding that the restoration has reached a phase where significantly more work is required to reconnect a smaller number of customers.

Meanwhile, Blaine Jarrett, senior director of engineering services at JPS, responding to questions regarding the age of transmission towers, some of which were downed in the hurricane, said: “They normally have a lifespan of about 70 years, and for those that were damaged, they were about 50 years old,” adding that they are routinely refurbished.

He explained that JPS employed a variety of storm-preparedness measures, including an enhanced inter-agency partnership framework with standardised regional boundaries and joint utility briefings, as well as the introduction of a new 24/7, fully staffed incident command structure.

JPS indicated that following Hurricane Melissa, some 85,000 occurrences of damage were recorded, including approximately 40,000 downed or damaged poles and about 1,400 miles of damaged lines.

Meanwhile, Pia Baker, senior vice president of customer service at JPS, sought to reassure customers.

Baker said JPS is working with stakeholders to ensure customers are in a position to safely receive electricity.

“As we carry out this restoration, we do not forget those customers who may have been waiting a little longer, and we want to ensure that resources to support them in the independent restoration of their households are targeted and expedited.

“The real risk to our restoration is ensuring that it is sustainable from a community partnership and social perspective. Customer readiness is also a limiting factor for some customers receiving electricity,” she said.

“We have seen the pictures and have visited the communities, and we, along with the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), are conducting independent surveys to assess the situation. So far, we are seeing a large percentage of customers in some of the hardest-hit parishes missing pot heads and having other infrastructure issues—roofs gone and houses flooded—which will require rewiring and certification. These things are not cheap,” she continued.

- Corey Robinson

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