KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has established a special internal team to oversee its investigation into the islandwide blackout following the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited’s (JPS) submission of a preliminary report on the incident.

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In a release, the OUR said the team will provide direction to JPS, undertake the necessary preparations for the investigation, and review the utility company’s final report to determine its validity, assess the relevance of its recommendations, and evaluate the actions proposed by JPS in response to the outage.

The team is also authorised to advise the OUR on the resources required for the investigation, including the engagement of external experts where necessary, to ensure a thorough examination of the blackout. It will also be responsible for making its own recommendations and identifying any regulatory actions that may be required.

The regulator said that, after reviewing JPS’s initial findings, it wishes to make clear that no conclusions, recommendations or regulatory enforcement actions can be based on the preliminary report, as it provides only limited attention to the root cause of the incident.

Director-General Ansord E Hewitt said the report nevertheless serves as a useful starting point.

“The preliminary report, however is a helpful signpost to alert the OUR to immediate post-restoration concerns, and to enable the regulator to give further directions to JPS as to the expected scope and the critical inputs that must be addressed in JPS’s investigation and reflected in the final detailed report, which is due within thirty (30) days of the full restoration of electricity,” Hewitt said.

In its preliminary report, JPS assured the regulator that its immediate review and the operational measures implemented following the outage had not identified any immediate or ongoing concerns regarding grid stability.

According to JPS, the blackout was preceded by multiple faults on critical transmission infrastructure in the Corporate Area during a period of heavy rain and lightning. The company said its initial investigations suggest a possible misoperation of the primary protection scheme associated with the Hunts Bay-Rockfort 69kV line, which, together with other factors, contributed to prolonged fault conditions, cascading generator trips and ultimately a system-wide shutdown.