A New Year’s Eve power outage is plaguing around 80% of Puerto Rico.
Close to 1.3 million customers are without power in Puerto Rico after a faulty power line caused a “cascade effect” of multiple failed power plants, according to Josué Colón, director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.
Energy company LUMA shared a statement on X regarding the matter:
“LUMA has activated its Emergency Operations Center and is currently working with Genera and other generation partners to restart the electrical system and restore power following an island-wide outage that began at 5:30 a.m.,” the company wrote. “While the cause of the outage is under investigation, preliminary findings point to a fault on an underground line.”
“LUMA crews responded immediately and have begun their process to restore power to customers as quickly and safely as possible,” LUMA continued. “LUMA will restore power to customers in phases. We have already begun the process of restoring some customers, and the full process will take between 24-48 hours, conditions permitting.”
Massive Power Outage Affecting 80% of Puerto Rico
The company also stated that it plans to provide updates on social media every few years.
Additionally, Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Pierluisi noted on X that he was “in communication with LUMA and Genera, as well as with the AEE team regarding the massive blackout affecting a large part of the Island due to a critical fault.”
“We can report that work is already underway to restore service with the San Juan and Palo Seco plants,” he wrote. “We are demanding answers and solutions from both LUMA and Genera, who must expedite the restart of the generating units outside the fault area and keep the people duly informed about the measures they are taking to restore service throughout the Island.”
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