COUNTRY:  JAMAICA.

The Jamaican government announced that it is reviewing the technical investigation into the nationwide electricity outage that occurred on 5 June 2026. Energy Minister Daryl Vaz said an inter-ministerial team is examining the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) report, which was submitted within the required regulatory timeframe. The review aims to determine the precise cause of the blackout and identify measures to improve the resilience of the country’s electricity infrastructure.

According to preliminary findings, the outage was triggered after a lightning-induced fault on the Hunts Bay–Rockfort transmission line failed to isolate properly, causing instability across the national grid and leading to a cascading shutdown. The government is working alongside the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) to assess the technical recommendations and ensure that similar failures can be prevented in the future.

The review comes as Jamaica continues efforts to modernise its energy sector and improve the reliability of electricity services for households and businesses. Officials have indicated that strengthening grid infrastructure is a priority as the country expands renewable energy generation and seeks to build a more resilient power system capable of withstanding severe weather and rising electricity demand.

Photo source: Jamaica Gleaner