Massive Blackout in Puerto Rico Leaves Nearly 1.3 Million Without Power
A critical failure in Puerto Rico’s power grid has caused a massive blackout, leaving approximately 1.3 million customers—about 88% of the island—without electricity, Governor Pedro Pierluisi announced on his X account.
The outage on New Year’s Eve has been traced to a fault in the power system. LUMA Energy, the Canadian-American company responsible for power distribution and transmission in Puerto Rico, confirmed the blackout began early Tuesday at 5:30 a.m.
Restoration Efforts Underway
Governor Pierluisi stated that efforts are underway to restore power, focusing on the San Juan and Palo Seco plants. “We are demanding answers and solutions from both LUMA and Genera,” Pierluisi said, referring to the private entities managing power distribution and generation on the island.
He urged them to expedite the restart of generating units outside the fault zone and keep the public informed about progress.
LUMA Energy’s Emergency Operations Center, in collaboration with Genera PR and other power partners, is working to restore service as quickly as possible. According to LUMA, the full restoration process could take one to two days.
A History of Power Grid Challenges
This blackout highlights the longstanding issues with Puerto Rico’s fragile and poorly-maintained power grid. Frequent outages have plagued the island for years, and modernization efforts have been slow despite significant funding.
In 2017, Hurricane Maria caused a catastrophic grid failure, resulting in the largest blackout in U.S. history in terms of lost hours of electricity. The aftermath left residents without power for months. FEMA has since allocated $9.9 billion for permanent repairs, but progress remains slow.
Management of the grid was transferred from the government-owned Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) to LUMA Energy in 2021. Genera PR, responsible for energy production, began operations in 2023.
However, challenges persist. After Hurricane Ernesto in August, nearly half of the island’s electric customers experienced outages at one point.
Developing Story
This is a developing story, and updates will be provided as more information becomes available. For now, residents remain hopeful as restoration efforts continue.
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