Power outage in Puerto Rico Nearly 1.3 million customers were left in the dark on Tuesday as the US territory began preparations for a New Year's Eve celebration, and according to officials, it could take up to two days to restore power.
The Associated Press reported that power went out at dawn, plunging the entire island into silence as electrical appliances and air conditioners were cut off before generators were turned on by those who could afford them.
Luma Energy, a private company that oversees electricity transmission and distribution, said nearly 90% of Puerto Rico's 1.47 million customers were left in the dark.
The company also said the power outage was caused by a malfunction in an underground power line, noting that it was restoring power “in the quickest and safest way possible.”
A power pole with loose cable towers above a house in Loaiza, Puerto Rico, September 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo, File)
The power outages inflamed already simmering anger against Luma and Genera PR, the company that oversees power generation in Puerto Rico.
Governor-elect Jennifer Gonzalez Colon, who will be sworn in on January 2, called for the establishment of a government “Energy czar” To review Luma's potential contractual violations while finding another operator.
“We cannot continue to rely on an energy system that fails our people,” she wrote on X, adding that stabilizing Puerto Rico’s energy grid would be her top priority in office.
The issue is also being considered by current governor Pedro Pierluisi, who said in a post on X that he has been in contact with Luma and Genera PR.
“We can report that work is already underway to restore service at the San Juan and Palo Seco plants,” he wrote. “We demand answers and solutions from both LUMA and Genera, who must expedite the restart of generating units outside the fault zone and keep people duly informed of the measures they are taking to restore service across the island.”
The outage forced many businesses, parks and shopping centers to close, and the government announced limited schedules for some of its agencies.
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Business owners turn to their power generators so they can continue operating during an island-wide power outage, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, April 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti, File)
While power outages are rare in Puerto Rico, the island suffers from chronic power outages blamed on a crumbling power grid that was severely damaged by Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm in September 2017.
But at the time, the system was already in decline after years of neglect in terms of maintenance and investment.
Crews only recently began making permanent repairs to Puerto Rico's power grid after Hurricane Maria. The island still depends on generators provided by the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) To help stabilize the network.
Last month, Puerto Rico's government asked US officials for permission to continue using more than a dozen portable generators for another two years.
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Meanwhile, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority is struggling to restructure more than $9 billion in debt, the island's largest government agency.
Oil-based power plants generate more than 60% of Puerto Rico's energy, followed by natural gas and coal. Solar rooftops account for only about 7% of electricity consumption on an island where the poverty rate is more than 40%.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
