Puerto Rico was plunged into darkness early Tuesday morning due to power outages across almost all of the island.
The cause of the power outage is being investigated, but initial findings indicated a fault in an underground line, according to Loma Energy, the main energy distributor on the island. It may take 24 to 48 hours to fully restore service. The company said on X.
According to the New York Times, only 13 percent of the island's 1.4 million customers had power as of 1000 AEST (1400 GMT).
An hour later, power was restored to some areas, as well as to the municipal hospital in San Juan, Loma said.
The New Year's Eve power outage renewed calls from elected officials and residents to address persistent power issues in the segregated US territory, which have persisted since Hurricane Maria in 2017.
The island cannot continue to tolerate an energy system that too often fails its citizens, Jennifer Gonzalez Colón, Puerto Rico's current representative in the U.S. Congress and Puerto Rico's next governor, wrote in X.
She said power outages continue to impact Puerto Rico's economy and quality of life.
On Facebook, current governor Pedro Pierluisi demanded answers and solutions from the two main energy companies, Loma and Genera.
Hundreds of thousands of residents were simultaneously affected by power outages this year. Power outages in June left about 350,000 customers without power as temperatures rose, and more than 700,000 customers were without power after Hurricane Ernesto in August.
As they woke up to another day without power, Puerto Ricans expressed their frustration to US media.
“It's part of my daily life,” Enid Nunez, 49, said of the power outages to The Associated Press.
Puerto Rico's power grid was strained even before Hurricane Maria devastated the island. U.S. government funding helped support the network, facilitate other natural disaster recovery projects, and make other important infrastructure improvements.
But implementation was not completed due to a variety of factors, such as construction start-up issues and Federal Emergency Management Agency requirements to allow the use of some funds, according to a February 2024 report. a report From the US Government Accountability Office.
“It is inexcusable that the power grid has not yet recovered from the damage caused by Hurricane Maria,” Mark Levin, New York City's Manhattan borough president, wrote on X.
New York City is home to the largest Puerto Rican community on the mainland United States.
“These are 3.5 million American citizens,” he wrote. “We owe them much better.”
