The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) says validation checks conducted following post hurricane restoration works done by the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) in St. Elizabeth and Manchester, are consistent with the JPS’ reports.

In a statement this morning, the OUR said it has been conducting validation checks on JPS’ restoration works in both parishes following the power company’s announced completion of its post-Hurricane Beryl restoration efforts last weekend.

The OUR said it issued a directive on July 31, instructing JPS to repair its damaged network infrastructure and achieve 100% restoration to consumers island-wide by August 12.

It said restoration challenges emerged in the parishes which were more severely affected, particularly St. Elizabeth, causing JPS to extend its restoration deadline to August 31.

The OUR said its team has reported that observations indicate that all primary and secondary distribution circuits that were impacted are restored and energized. 

However, there are some premises where supply has not been restored due to customers’ electrical installations, such as potheads and meter socket not being in place to accommodate service connection.

According to the OUR, JPS reported in its last hurricane restoration schedule on August 29 that power supply to all but three customers has been restored.

One customer is in St. Thomas.

While the other two accounts relate to water pumps.

These facilities are the National Irrigation Commission in St. Elizabeth and a privately owned pump in Portland.

These are yet to be restored due to access and safety issues.

On August 31, JPS said it surpassed its promised deadline for 100% restoration across the island by three days.

According to the OUR, its technical team reported that its observations were consistent with earlier reports from JPS about issues on the customers’ part that were preventing full restoration. 

The OUR team also discovered that some circuits, including structures, were restored based on a “rapid repair” approach, and as a result, the problematic issues such as leaning pole structures, and excessive sagging of conductors, that existed before and after the hurricane, continue to exist.

OUR said this has implications for the network’s structural integrity and resilience.

As a result, the OUR proposes to continue monitoring JPS’s plan to revisit and reinforce the installations as part of its “rebuild and resilience” strategy.