Jamaica Restores Power to 500,000 Customers After Lightning Triggers Islandwide Blackout
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Jun 6
Jamaica Restores Power to 500,000 Customers After Lightning Triggers Islandwide Blackout
3 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Jun 6
Summary
500,000 of Jamaica’s 700,000 electricity customers had service restored by Saturday morning after an overnight blackout cut power across the entire island.
Jamaica Public Service said the outage likely began when lightning struck near major substations and other grid infrastructure just after 9 p.m. Friday.
Energy Minister Daryl Vaz said full restoration was expected within hours, calling the nationwide outage an “unacceptable situation” for the country’s 2.8 million people.
Systemwide grid failures are rare in Jamaica, where major power disruptions are more often tied to severe weather such as Hurricane Melissa in October 2025.