Joggers exercise on a dark street in San Juan, Puerto Rico, after a major power outage hit the island on Dec. 31, 2024. RICARDO ARDUENGO via Getty Images
Most Puerto Ricans woke up on New Year’s Eve to widespread electricity blackouts, the latest consequence of a crumbling power grid that was destroyed by Hurricane María in 2017 and never fully restored by the private companies that took it over.
More than 1.2 million of 1.47 million clients were without power, according to LUMA energy, the private company that took over electricity distribution in the U.S. territory in 2021.
The company said on its social media channels that the cause of the outage was under investigation but preliminary findings point to a fault in an underground cable. They said it would take 24-48 hours to restore power and would provide updates every two hours.
However, Josué Colón, head of Puerto Rico’s electric energy authority, told the Telemundo network it could take several days to fully restore service, CBS News reported.
Residential buildings are seen in the dark in San Juan after a major power outage hit the island. RICARDO ARDUENGO via Getty Images
Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said the government is in contact with LUMA and Genera PR, the private company in charge of power generation.
“We are demanding answers and solutions from both LUMA and Genera,” he wrote in a social media post.
Power outages have been a significant cause of stress and frustration for Puerto Ricans the last few years. People have taken to the streets to protest the privatization deals and expressed their outrage on social media. San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero issued a state of emergency over the power outages in June in the middle of a hot summer.
Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny drew attention to the issue in 2022 with his music video for “El Apagón,” which features a documentary on the issues Puerto Rico faces at the end of it.
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Publish date : 2024-12-31 02:29:00
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