Energy Minister Daryl Vaz says he will be doubling down on efforts to have the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) compensate Jamaicans and businesses impacted by major outages.

He made the statement in parliament yesterday, as he commented on last Friday’s islandwide blackout which left thousands of JPS customers in darkness for hours.

According to Mr. Vaz in instances where JPS customers suffer significant losses due to a blackout, compensation by JPS must be considered.

He said this has pushed him to pursue a review of the electricity and the office of utilities regulations acts.

This he explained is to ensure that legislative and regulatory frame work is among other things, fit for purpose and provides stronger protection for consumers .

In the meantime, the Energy Minister said the recent incident has brought into sharp focus the need for future JPS licences to have customer service obligations and appropriate mechanisms for accountability when major system failures occur.