OUR gives JPS 30 days for detailed report on islandwide blackout
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS) has been given until September 27, 2016 to provide a detailed report to the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) on the recent islandwide blackout.
The OUR said in a news release today that, as stipulated in the Electricity Act, 2015, JPS is obliged to provide such a report to the OUR within 30 days of the date of restoration of power.
On August 27, 2016, the island suffered an islandwide blackout, which lasted for several hours. The JPS submitted a preliminary report to the OUR, as requested, on August 29. That report confirmed that a “procedural error” caused a total system blackout on the JPS transmission system at approximately 5:45 pm.
For the detailed report, the OUR is to indicate to JPS the critical data and other necessary information which should be included in it on the incident.
The release stated that at a meeting between the OUR and JPS on Tuesday to discuss JPS’s preliminary report, the implications of the power outage and the way forward, the regulatory body expressed disappointment with the islandwide power outage, the frequency of such events, and the negative impact on JPS customers.
The OUR reportedly urged the JPS to be thorough and rigorous in its investigation and analysis of the incident and requested that they outline corrective measures to safeguard against recurrences.
JPS has reportedly agreed to be guided by the position outlined by the regulator regarding the conduct of its investigation.
Deputy Director General of the OUR, Hopeton Heron, says: “Once we have received all the required information from the JPS, the OUR is committed to completing its review of the information as well as its own investigation of the outage, within 30 days.
“We recognise the significant impact that this islandwide outage has had on customers and so we are committed to exerting all efforts to ensure that we quickly and efficiently do our own analysis and make our recommendations,” Heron says.
He says the OUR will be insisting on the conduct of a thorough review of the electricity system including their approach to grid planning, design, installation, operation, and maintenance.
