Jamaica Suffers Island-Wide Blackout Affecting 2.8 Million, Restores Power to 500,000 Customers
An outage that began just after 9 p.m. on Friday left the entire island without electricity. By Saturday morning, service had returned to roughly 500,000 of 700,000 customers.
msnbc.comM. on Friday left the entire island of Jamaica without electricity. 8 million people.
Company president Hugh Grant said authorities were still investigating the causes as of early Saturday. He stated the blackout was likely related to lightning that struck near major substations and other grid infrastructure. Energy Minister Daryl Vaz said power had been restored to roughly 500,000 out of 700,000 customers by Saturday morning.
He expected a full restoration within hours. “I commit to keeping the nation advised and updated on this UNACCEPTABLE SITUATION,” Vaz wrote on X. Sudden systemwide grid failures are rare in Jamaica. Major disruptions are usually linked to severe weather.
Hurricane Melissa knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers when it struck the island in October 2025.
