JPS, OUR to hold further meetings

The Jamaica Public Service (JPS) is set to have further discussions with the Energy Minister and the Office of Utilities Regulations (OUR) about last Saturday’s islandwide power outage.

Yesterday, the JPS met with the OUR to discuss a preliminary report on the cause of the power outage, which lasted for several hours on one of the busiest shopping days.

JPS Chief Executive Officer, Kelly Tomblin, says she is scheduled to provide the OUR with more information at a meeting next week.

She also says the OUR’s probe has so far been fair adding that the questions the regulator is raising about the company's operations are in the best interest of the public.

In the meantime, Tomblin says the two JPS employees who have been suspended following last Saturday’s outage will remain off the job until investigations are concluded.

In a release yesterday, the JPS said the outage occurred after the team carrying out maintenance work failed to adhere to the established procedures.

It says this resulted in the worst type of electrical fault on a power system.