Jamaica Public Service Outage: Jamaica (Resolved)

Incident details

Island-wide advisory. (Kingston – October 28, 2025) JPS is reporting that as at 3 pm, more than 70% or just over 500,000 of its customers are without electricity. The increase in outages comes after Category 5 Hurricane Melissa made landfall at around 12 noon, bringing record wind speeds of over 180 miles per hour. Several transmission and distribution networks island-wide have been seriously impacted. “Based on the initial information reaching us, the electrical network in central and western parishes in particular have been severely damaged,” noted Hugh Grant, President and CEO at the energy company. “Our teams have been working diligently to avoid a total shutdown. From what we’re seeing though, sections of the grid will require a rebuild.” While disclosing that the recovery will be challenging, Grant reassured the public that JPS line workers, along with local and overseas contractors, are on standby to act as soon as it is safe for us to do so. Regarding the lesser impacted areas of the country, the company has indicated its intention to request a partial all-clear from the authorities. This hybrid approach would see assessments being carried out alongside restoration where po