Tropical Storm Nicole - Planning Institute of Jamaica

period must be viewed against: a) record levels of production in the April-June 2009; as well
as b) the severe drought conditions experienced which prevailed since the latter part of 2009
into the first quarter of 2010. The declines in April-June 2010 outweighed the positive
performance associated with the rehabilitation works being undertaken under the KMA
Water Supply Project as well as other plant upgrades. With regard to the July-December
2010 period, given the high water production levels in the July-September quarter, higher
production levels are not anticipated. The effects associated with the passage of Tropical
Storm Nicole are expected to exacerbate the situation, and thereby impact the performance
in the water sub-industry negatively, resulting in further reduction in production in the July-
September quarter. This coupled with the effects of the storm on electricity sub-industry is
expected to further erode the projected 2.0 per cent decline in GDP for the industry for the
July-December 2010 period.
a) Electricity Sub-industry
The Jamaica Public Service is the sole transmitter and distributor of electricity in Jamaica. It
serves a customer base of approximately 600 000 customers; has a peak demand of 642
megawatts; and a generating capacity that exceeds 620 megawatts. This energy demand is
supplied from 4 main power stations and 8 hydro-electric plants. The JPS also purchase a
total of 217 megawatts of power from 3 independent power providers
Preliminary estimates indicate that the electricity sub-industry sustained damage of some
$92.4 million. While there may have been some associated losses, the company indicated
that this would have been minimal as it was mainly the smaller users that were out of
electricity. The impact to large consumers, for example hotels, was limited and hence the
associated losses would be minimal.
Tropical Storm Nicole resulted in minimal damage to JPSCo’s transmission lines,
transformer stations and household installations while minor damage were done to its
distribution networks and communication systems. The damage was caused by the heavy
rains, strong winds and lightning, which resulted in broken power lines, dislocated poles and
damaged electrical infrastructure. The associated impact on the company’s distribution
system resulted in power outages to approximately 48.0 per cent of customers (over 288 000)
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