SAN JUAN – Puerto Rico experienced a widespread power outage on New Year’s Eve, plunging the island into darkness as a grid failure affected nearly all residents.
At 1:00 p.m. on December 31, energy distribution company Luma Energy reported that around 87% of its clients were without power. The island has long struggled with frequent outages due to its aging infrastructure.
Luma Energy estimated it could take 24 to 48 hours to restore power, depending on conditions. However, the company later confirmed that electricity had been restored to some key facilities, including Centro Medico and Municipal Hospital in San Juan.
While the cause of the outage remains under investigation, Luma officials said preliminary reports indicated a failure in an underground power line. Ivan Baez, a spokesperson for power generator Genera, confirmed in a local radio interview that the line in question, operated by Luma, caused a disruption that affected both Genera’s plants and private generators.
Luma Energy did not respond directly to questions about the responsibility for maintaining the failed power lines.
Puerto Rico’s Governor, Pedro Pierluisi, took to social media to urge Luma and Genera to act quickly in bringing the power back online. “They need to speed up the restoration of the generator units and keep the public informed about the steps being taken to fully restore power to the island,” he said.
For many Puerto Ricans, the blackout hit hardest on New Year’s Eve, a time typically reserved for family gatherings, fireworks, and celebrations. Ramon Luis Nieves, a 49-year-old attorney in San Juan, described the situation as a dampener to the usual festivities. “My wife and I need to figure it out. We can’t visit my wife’s family in the dark,” he said, adding that he was not surprised by the outage, particularly given the island’s history with infrastructure issues.
Nieves, a former senator and vocal critic of the power grid operators, blamed the system’s failures on years of neglect. “This disaster has been more than a decade in the making,” he said. “The generators are old, past their life expectancy, and the operators haven’t properly invested in the system for years.”
This sentiment is shared by many on the island, a U.S. territory where residents are U.S. citizens but lack voting representation in Congress and cannot vote in presidential elections. Many Puerto Ricans have protested the government’s continued contract with Luma Energy, with calls for its cancellation.
In response to a protest in 2022, Luma stated that it had inherited a power system that had suffered decades of neglect.
Steven Pacheco, a 55-year-old former lineman, expressed his frustration after visiting the island from St. Petersburg, Florida. “It’s frustrating for everyone to be constantly on edge, anticipating that these emergencies could happen again,” he said.
Jenniffer González, the incoming governor of Puerto Rico who takes office on January 2, announced that she is forming an energy task force to address the ongoing power problems. “We cannot continue with an energy system that fails our people so often,” González wrote on social media. “Events like this morning’s blackout and the uncertainty of when power will be fully restored continue to harm our economy and quality of life.”
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