Energy ministry seeks independent review of JPS islandwide shutdown

Jamaica’s Energy ministry has commissioned an independent review of the June 5 islandwide power blackout, signalling it will not rely solely on the utility’s own account of the event.

“We really want to ensure that we have a very independent assessment,” said Steve Dixon, the ministry’s chief technical director for energy, in an interview.

The decision follows the Jamaica Public Service Company’s (JPS) submission of its own 350-page investigation, completed with the help of Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories and General Electric. JPS delivered the report to the Office of Utilities Regulation and the ministry on July 15.

Dixon acknowledged the JPS report but said the Government believed a separate assessment remained necessary.

The ministry wants investigators to look beyond the immediate equipment failure cited in the outage sequence and examine maintenance practices, operating history and other factors that may have set the stage for the blackout.

“We’re not looking at the incident in itself, but we’re looking at factors that could have contributed to this incident,” Dixon said. “We want to see the history of what could have lent itself to also look at if there were similar events where it could have led to what happened.”

Dixon said there were indications warranting deeper scrutiny and that previous regulatory determinations had examined similar events. Energy Minister Daryl Vaz has noted that Jamaica has experienced four to five system shutdowns over the past 15 years, raising concerns about whether recurring vulnerabilities persist.

The ministry last week issued a Request for Expressions of Interest to engage a consultant with international experience. The exercise will be conducted through the Energy Management and Efficiency Programme and funded from grant resources provided under a programme backed by the Inter-American Development Bank and the European Union-Caribbean Investment Facility.

“The consultant will identify root causes, contributing factors, systemic vulnerabilities, and corrective and preventive actions necessary to strengthen Jamaica’s electricity system,” the ministry stated.

The selected consultant will assess the outage, review the JPS shutdown report, identify root causes and contributing factors, evaluate technical and operational issues, and recommend corrective and preventive measures. Cost estimates will emerge later, when shortlisted firms are invited to submit proposals.

The ministry hopes to complete the review within three to four months, including procurement. Expressions of interest close on September 1, and the contract is expected to be awarded by October 1.

JPS declined to comment. The utility published its own investigation in mid-July, concluding that the system shutdown at 9:02 p.m. on Friday, June 5 was caused by a lightning strike-induced fault at the company’s Hunts Bay substation. The fault remained on the grid for an extended period, destabilising the system and triggering the rapid tripping of generators, which cascaded into the islandwide shutdown. Service was restored to all customers by 6:34 a.m. on June 6.

JPS described the event as “the first fault of this nature ever recorded on the JPS transmission system”. The company said the rare, highly resistive and evolving fault was not cleared by the network’s primary protection scheme, and backup protective devices operated more slowly than anticipated. Some generating units tripped offline earlier than expected.

JPS said it has already replaced its primary protection equipment, reviewed protection settings, and accelerated its modernisation programme. It said it would work with independent power producers to review the protective settings of generators and ensure all generating plants operate in keeping with the fault ride-through requirements of the Electricity Grid Codes.

JPS also said it received independent assessment from two industry experts with experience — at the utility, state and federal level — with widespread system outages in the United States.

The ministry’s decision to commission a separate review suggests the Government wants its own evidence base ahead of a critical juncture in the electricity sector. On July 1, 2025, the Government notified JPS, pursuant to Condition 27 of the All-Island Electric Licence, of its intention not to renew the licence under its existing terms when it expires on July 8, 2027. The Government has said it intends to negotiate new licensing terms and conditions with potential investors.

JPS is 80 per cent owned by Japan’s Marubeni Corporation and South Korea’s Korea East-West Power, with the Government of Jamaica holding 19.9 per cent through the Development Bank of Jamaica and the Accountant General. A small group of minority shareholders holds the remainder. JPS serves over 585,000 customers through a workforce of about 1,600.

neville.graham@gleanerjm.com