Jamaica experienced a rare island-wide power outage that struck the Caribbean nation overnight, prompting sharp criticism from the Minister of Energy. Daryl Vaz announced on Saturday morning that power had been restored to all affected customers, but not before calling the situation "unacceptable" and demanding a full report from the electricity provider.

The blackout began around 9pm local time on Friday, affecting the entire island of 2.8 million people. This outage is particularly concerning as it occurred at the beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season, raising questions about the grid's resilience against potential weather events.

JPS, the sole electricity distributor on the island, stated that its teams worked through the night to restore power. By 2am Saturday, approximately 140,000 customers had power restored in areas like Kingston, St Andrew, and Clarendon. Minister Vaz later confirmed that 500,000 of JPS's 700,000 customers had power back by Saturday morning, with the remainder expected to be restored in the following hours.

Despite the restoration, Minister Vaz convened an emergency meeting with government and JPS officials to address the incident. He committed to keeping the public informed and has demanded a comprehensive report from JPS within 24 hours, detailing the cause of the widespread failure. Prime Minister Andrew Holness also shared statements online echoing the minister's sentiment that the situation was "unacceptable."

Island-wide power outages are uncommon in Jamaica, typically only occurring during severe weather emergencies. Last October, Hurricane Melissa caused significant power disruptions in parts of the country, highlighting the grid's vulnerability to extreme weather.

JPS has stated it is "investigating the cause of the cause of this incident." However, no official explanation for the widespread failure was immediately provided as of Saturday morning. The company, previously nationalized, is now privately held and is the only entity responsible for electricity distribution across Jamaica.

Minister Vaz urged residents to contact him directly if they were still experiencing "isolated issues" related to the blackout, underscoring the government's commitment to ensuring full service restoration and accountability.

The incident has sparked concern among residents and officials alike about the reliability of the nation's power infrastructure, especially with the ongoing hurricane season posing a potential threat to energy stability.