Aerial patrol reveals significant damage to key power grid infrastructure 

Service restored to over 50,000 JPS customers 

(Kingston – Thursday, October 30, 2025) JPS is reporting extensive damage to key infrastructure across its power delivery network, following the passage of Category 5 Hurricane Melissa. Coming out of an aerial tour of the most severely hit parishes, JPS President and CEO, Hugh Grant, commented on the magnitude of work that lies ahead for the power company: 

“The backbone of the electricity grid has suffered tremendous damage,” he said. “Several high-voltage transmission facilities, including towers made of steel were completely destroyed by the extreme hurricane force winds that swept across sections of the island. Although it is too early to grasp the full extent of the damage, from what we have seen so far, it will take a while to rebuild and restore power to all our customers,” the JPS CEO explained.  

While carrying out damage assessment, JPS teams are using the opportunity to do repairs in areas with less extensive damage and get power back to customers where it is safe to do so.  More than 50,000 customers across Kingston & St. Andrew, St. Thomas and St. Catherine have so far been restored.  

However, Grant warns that while power has been restored to some areas, the high voltage transmission backbone of the system that traverses some of the most severely damaged areas remains compromised. “We are partnering with the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) to continue helicopter patrols of those facilities in order to have a better understanding of the scope of repairs that are required to restore those facilities and stabilize the grid,” he said. 

“We understand the inconvenience being experienced by our customers who are without power,” Grant further expressed. “The one thing we know is that this will be a rebuild of significant portions of our infrastructure, and not just a restoration in order to get the power back on. But rest assured, our teams are working non-stop twenty-four sevens to get the lights back on, while we are taking steps to get even more overseas line workers to assist.” 

As work continues, the energy company is reminding members of the public to take extreme care to ensure their safety and that of their families. The Company is also appealing to the  

public to stay away from downed power lines.  “We are committed to keeping you informed of our progress. We believe in the resilience of our people, and we are confident that together we will get through this,” Grant said. 

JPS customers are encouraged to get all updates from official JPS channels: the website at www.jpsco.com, the MyJPS Mobile App, @myjpsonline on Instagram and X, Facebook (Jamaica Public Service Company) and their WhatsApp channel (Jamaica Public Service Updates).