JPS Restores Power to Over 420,000 Customers by Saturday Following Hurricane Beryl
On Saturday, the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) announced that more than 420,000 customers, representing 62% of their total customer base, now have electricity restored following the passage of Category 4 Hurricane Beryl.
This progress is the result of the company’s restoration efforts over the forty-eight hours since the hurricane.
While still in damage assessment mode, JPS has utilised opportunities to repair and energize sections of the line that had sustained minimal damage.
Blaine Jarret, JPS’ Senior Vice President of Energy Delivery, indicated that over the previous two days leading up to Saturday, power was restored to over 184,000 customers in several communities across the island.
“While we managed to keep the lights on for about 35% of our customers during the hurricane, about 448,000 lost service due to damage to the infrastructure. We are now making every effort to accelerate the restoration of service to those still without,” he said.
“We understand that our customers are anxious for service to be restored immediately after the passage of the hurricane, and we remain committed to doing everything to get the lights back on as quickly and as safely as possible. However, electricity restoration is a complicated process that must be handled meticulously in order to protect our team members, our customers and the grid. Damage assessment is extremely important, especially in the first 24 hours after a hurricane,” he explained.
“The information from the assessment helps to determine the restoration strategy, how we allocate resources, and the steps we can take to expedite the restoration of supply to customers,” he said.
In keeping with its restoration protocol, JPS has been giving priority attention to the restoration of supply to critical facilities including airports, hospitals, water supply, and telecommunication facilities.
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