Utilities still rebuilding from Melissa as hurricane season begins, regulator says

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Parts of Jamaica's utility sector have yet to fully recover from Hurricane Melissa as the country enters a new Atlantic hurricane season, prompting regulators to require stronger disaster planning and additional financial safeguards for critical service providers.The warning from the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) comes seven months after Melissa damaged electricity and telecommunications infrastructure across the island, leaving hundreds of thousands of customers without power and communications and triggering one of the largest restoration efforts in recent years.I am mindful that the 2026 hurricane season will see a utility sector that has not yet fully recovered from Hurricane Melissa, OUR Director General Ansord Hewitt said in a statement issued on Tuesday.The regulator said utility companies have been directed to submit updated business continuity and disaster recovery plans detailing how they would maintain essential services and restore operations following a major storm.The move reflects concerns that another severe weather event could strike before recovery and resilience-building efforts linked to Melissa are fully completed.The hurricane exposed vulnerabilities extending beyond damaged infrastructure, highlighting the significant financial resources required to restore critical services after a disaster.Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), the island's sole electricity distributor, received a US150 million government-backed loan following Melissa to accelerate restoration work and mobilise overseas crews and specialised equipment needed to rebuild sections of the network.The storm also placed significant pressure on the Electricity Disaster Fund (EDF), a reserve established to help finance restoration efforts following major hurricanes.In a separate decision released ahead of the start of the hurricane season, the OUR approved a new disaster insurance arrangement for JPS that could provide up to US106.6 million in rapid funding after a severe storm.The coverage, known as parametric insurance, is designed to trigger payouts when specific storm conditions are met, allowing restoration work to begin without waiting for traditional insurance claims to be processed.The regulator said the new arrangement would complement the EDF and help strengthen the sector's financial resilience against increasingly costly weather events.While most customers have long since had services restored, recovery efforts remain incomplete in some areas. In April, Opposition Spokesman on Energy and Telecommunications Phillip Paulwell said households and businesses in parts of Westmoreland and elsewhere were still awaiting electricity restoration months after the hurricane.The OUR said utilities must now demonstrate not only that they can respond operationally to major disasters, but also that they have sufficient financial resources to fund recovery efforts.The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, with forecasters predicting another active year for the region.