Jamaica experiences islandwide blackout; power restoration underway

Jamaica's national electricity provider, Jamaica Public Service Company, reported a complete power outage affecting the entire island on Friday night, starting just after 9 p.m. The outage impacted all utility customers in the country, which has a population of approximately 2.8 million. Company president Hugh Grant stated that the cause of the blackout was under investigation, with initial indications suggesting it may have been related to lightning strikes near key substations. By Saturday morning, Energy Minister Daryl Vaz announced that power had been restored to about 500,000 of the 700,000 affected customers and anticipated full restoration within hours. Vaz emphasized the importance of keeping the public informed about the situation. Such widespread outages are uncommon in Jamaica, typically associated with severe weather events, such as Hurricane Melissa in October 2025, which caused significant power disruptions.