Puerto Rico suffered the latest in a string of widespread power outages Tuesday that at one point had nearly 1.3 million businesses or homes — most of the island — in the dark.
An infrastructure problem at a power plant on the island’s southern coast left more than 1 million energy customers without power across the U.S. territory at 5:30 a.m., energy company Luma said in an update on X Tuesday morning.
Miosotis Corretjer, a San Juan resident, said that the situation was “totally frustrating” and that the government wasn’t doing enough.
“The people say that we don’t want Luma because it’s the worst service of electricity that we have in the history of our country,” she said. “It’s sad that in this day, the last day of the year, that impacts our holiday traditions, our Navidad, everything is so sad for the people of Puerto Rico.”
Late Tuesday, Luma announced that electricity for more than 700,000 customers had been restored, amounting to a return of power for nearly half of the customers who had been in the dark.
“Critical facilities, including more than 16 hospitals such as the Naguabo Hospital, and essential infrastructure like the Super Aqueduct and other Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority installations, have been re-energized,” it said in an earlier update Tuesday evening.
Luma continued, “Our teams continue to work diligently toward full restoration.”
The news was one of multiple updates informing Puerto Ricans that power was returning, albeit in often small steps.
Luma said in an earlier statement that the fault appeared to be an underground cable and that it was working with partners to restart the island’s power network.
“LUMA will be restoring power to customers in phases. We’ve already begun the process of reenergizing some customers, with the full restoration process taking between 24 and 48 hours as conditions permit,” the company said.
Josué Colón, director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, the public body that runs the grid for 1.5 million customers in cooperation with Luma, said in a radio interview that a problem with a power line in the south caused a “cascade effect” that led to multiple power plants failing. He said it would take “much of the day” to fix the problem.
Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said on X that he was in touch with Luma and the private energy company Genera PR.
“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,” he said.
Puerto Rico’s incoming governor, Jenniffer González, said on social media that the island “can’t keep relying on an energy system that fails our people. Today’s blackout and the uncertainty around restoration continue to impact our economy and quality of life.”
González said that stabilizing Puerto Rico’s electrical grid will be her top priority as governor.
The Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport said it was working on electricity generators but that flights were operating normally.
Puerto Rico’s electrical system had already been in decline when Category 4 Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017 and its power grid. The island continues to be beset by power outages as the fragile electric grid has not been permanently rebuilt since the storm razed it.
In 2020, the government chose Luma, a partnership between Calgary, Alberta-based Atco and Quanta Services Inc. of Houston, to serve its electricity customers in cooperation with the state power authority. It began operating in Puerto Rico in 2021.
Power outages are still a frustratingly frequent occurrence for many Puerto Ricans. A string of blackouts during the summer sparked protests and prompted San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero to declare a state of emergency.
In 2022, New York Attorney General Letitia James called for a federal investigation of Luma.
“Five years after Hurricanes Irma and Maria wreaked havoc on Puerto Rico, and after billions of federal dollars were spent to modernize and strengthen the island’s electrical grid, residents continue to endure frequent outages and high electrical rates,” James’ office said in a statement that year.
Customers were subjected to seven rate increases in 2022. Puerto Ricans already pay more than twice what mainland American customers do for an average electricity bill.
In 2023, Luma said it reduced outage frequency by 30% in a year’s time and launched 251 federally funded projects to rebuild the patched-up grid.
Still, those protests led to the U.S.-owned Genera PR taking over management of previously state-owned power stations, which are on average 45 years old — twice the age of equivalent facilities on the U.S. mainland — and highly reliant on fossil fuels.
More than 700,000 customers were without power in Puerto Rico in August when Tropical Storm Ernesto hit the island.
