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JPS to meet with OUR regarding islandwide blackout

The island's electricity distributor, the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) has been called to a meeting with its regulator on Tuesday, to discuss the issues which led to Saturday's islandwide blackout.
   
Elizabeth Bennett Marsh, Public Education Specialist at the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), told RJR News that the JPS has already been asked to supply the agency with a preliminary report on the blackout by Monday afternoon.
 
This, she said, is a "precurser to a more detailed report from the JPS which we would require within 30 days as stipulated by the relevant legislation."  
 
The JPS has said the power outage on Saturday was caused by a procedural error. 
    
Its system is designed to operate at different levels, ranging from isolating areas with a fault to the electricity network being shut down, in the event of a major system fault.
    
Preliminary indications are that the first stage of the protection system did not operate. As a result, several units at its power plants went off line. The network, in turn, shut down to protect itself from possible damage.
    
The JPS says it is evaluating why the protection mechanism did not operate as expected. It says this inquiry will be a key focus of its investigation over the next few days, and will be included in simulation exercises.


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