Puerto Rico experienced a widespread power outage in the early hours of Tuesday, leaving nearly 90 percent of consumers on the island without electricity.

Related:
General Elections in Puerto Rico on November 5, Independence Party Could Win

According to LUMA Energy, the company responsible for the transmission and distribution of electricity, 1,309,713 customers remain without power due to a significant failure.

Governor Pedro Pierluisi confirmed via his account on X that the service interruption is due to a critical failure, labeling it a “massive blackout.” He assured that authorities are already working at the San Juan and Palo Seco plants to restore power and demanded explanations from both LUMA Energy and Genera PR, the company responsible for electricity generation.

“We are in communication with LUMA and Genera, as well as with the AEE team regarding the massive blackout affecting much of the island due to a critical failure. We can report that work is already underway to restore service with the San Juan and Palo Seco plants,” stated Governor Pierluisi.

Genera PR reported that the incident originated from Line 230 at the switchyard of the Costa Sur power plant, causing a domino effect that impacted Units 5 and 6 at Costa Sur, as well as other plants including those in San Juan and Ecoeléctrica. Josué Colón, director of the Electric Power Authority (AEE), declared during a radio interview with WKAQ 580: “The system as a whole is down; the units in San Juan are out of service, Costa Sur is out of service, so this is a major event affecting the entire power system. All customers are without service.”

“It will take time to restart the system,” he added.

Iván Báez, spokesperson for Genera PR, confirmed that the failure was located at the Costa Sur switchyard and that they are collaborating with LUMA Energy to investigate and resolve the issue.

This situation has generated growing discontent among the population, who criticize the lack of attention from the U.S. government regarding maintenance and modernization of the island’s energy infrastructure. In Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, funds allocated for the electrical grid have been insufficient or poorly executed, leaving the country with a vulnerable and obsolete system—especially following Hurricane María’s impact.

EN ESTA NOTA: