Power returned to most customers after heavy winds

JPS has restored electricity service to more than 49,600 of the 50,000 customers initially impacted by Monday's squall line weather event.

The company said that it was working to get supply to the less than 400 remaining customers by the end of Tuesday. These customers are scattered across the parishes of Kingston and St Andrew, St Catherine, and Clarendon. JPS' Senior Vice-President for Energy Delivery, Blaine Jarrett, explained that the company activated its incident command centre on Monday in response to the unexpected weather event.

"The squall line brought with it winds of over 40 miles per hour, which created tropical storm conditions in several parishes. The grid was impacted by the storm force winds, and flying missiles that came in contact with power lines," said Jarrett. JPS teams have been working to restore supply to customers.

"As at Monday evening, the vast majority of customers had been restored. Work is progressing steadily, and the teams are making significant headway in ensuring that the remaining customers are reconnected safely by the end of today (Tuesday)," Jarrett said.

The utility company also reminded members of the public to exercise caution, especially around fallen wires, and to be careful of falling debris. Customers were encouraged to report outages or hazards using the JPS mobile app, website, or Customer Care Centre at 888-CALL-JPS (888-225-5577).