JPS says vehicular crashes have caused almost 800 power outages so far in 2025

The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) has revealed that motor vehicle accidents have caused 799 power outages across the island since the start of the year, roughly four crash-related outages per day.

In a media release on Sunday, the JPS appealed to motorists to be careful on the roads in light of the statistics.

The JPS said the three parishes with the highest number of outages due to motor vehicle accidents, from January to July 2025, are St Catherine with 120 outages; Kingston and St Andrew with 112 outages; and St Elizabeth with 88 outages.

It said the outages resulted from motor vehicles crashing into poles and breaking or dislodging them.

The JPS cited an accident in St Catherine in May that resulted in a broken pole and caused outages in Thompson Pen, Lauriston, Mount Mooreland, Tryhall Heights and Keystone. A total of 2,153 customers were left without power due to that single incident.

The power company said even in areas where there have been fewer outages due to accidents, the impact of each accident can still be significant. For example, in Belmont in Westmoreland, over the Easter weekend in April, a motorist attempting to enter his property missed his gate and crashed into a pole, breaking it. This resulted in a major outage from Font Hill to Auchindown, affecting roughly 3,000 customers.

Also on July 4, an accident in Kingswood, Westmoreland, resulted in an outage for over 2,000 customers. While over in the east, on July 3, a motor vehicle accident along the Allan Avenue main road in Port Antonio, Portland, resulted in an outage for over 5,000 customers.

Trelawny has the fewest outages caused by motor vehicle accidents, standing at 22 such outages.

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