US territory sinks into shadows on New Year’s Eve
(MENAFN) A massive blackout hit nearly all of Puerto Rico on New Year’s Eve, leaving over 1.3 million households without power as the territory prepared for its celebrations. The island's electricity transmission and distribution company indicated that it could take up to two days to fully restore power.
The outage began early in the morning, disrupting electrical appliances and air conditioning for nearly 90% of residents. By the afternoon, around 194,000 customers, including hospitals and the Puerto Rico Water and Sewer Authority, had their power restored. However, the online outage map remained offline.
The blackout has sparked criticism of Luma Energy and Genera PR, the companies in charge of power generation. Luma suggested that the cause was a failure of an underground power line and is working on restoring electricity as quickly and safely as possible.
Governor-elect Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, who is set to be sworn in on January 2, called for the appointment of an energy czar to assess potential contractual breaches by Luma and consider alternative operators. Governor Pedro Pierluisi is also demanding answers, with President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm offering federal assistance.
The outage led to business closures, reduced government services, and travel disruptions, with some hotels and short-term rentals affected. Puerto Rico’s power grid continues to struggle from long-standing issues worsened by Hurricane Maria in 2017, with the island relying heavily on petroleum power plants and FEMA-provided generators.
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