Puerto Rico’s New Year’s Eve Celebrations Dimmed by Widespread Power Outage
LUMA Energy has reported extensive blackouts impacting nearly 1.3 million customers throughout the island, with restoration efforts expected to take up to 48 hours.
LUMA Energy, the private firm tasked with electricity transmission and distribution on the island, announced that it has activated its Emergency Operations Center in reaction to this crisis.
The impact of the outage varies from region to region, with Arecibo experiencing a total blackout that affected 100 percent of LUMA’s customers. The Ponce region suffered with 96.88 percent of customers left in the dark, while San Juan, the capital region, recorded the lowest impact at 72.97 percent of customers impacted.
“While the cause of the outage is still being investigated, preliminary assessments suggest a fault in an underground line,” LUMA stated. “Investigations are ongoing to determine the cause of the outage.”
The company indicated that power restoration will take place in phases, with the entire process expected to last between 24 and 48 hours, depending on conditions.
Puerto Rican Governor Pedro Pierluisi mentioned that government officials were in contact with LUMA, another power provider, Genera, and the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority about the “massive blackout.”
Major cities throughout the island have faced significant outages. The areas most affected include Caguas (231,487 customers), Ponce (205,884), Mayaguez (194,127), Bayamon (184,990), San Juan (184,676), Arecibo (180,364), and Carolina (106,431).
LUMA has committed to providing updates every two hours via its social media platforms while restoration efforts are ongoing. The company is collaborating with Genera and other power generation partners to reboot the electrical system and restore service to the impacted regions.
Puerto Rico continues to deal with a fragile electrical infrastructure still recovering from Hurricane Maria in 2017. The island has faced persistent power outages due to years of neglect and insufficient investment in its electric infrastructure.
This New Year’s Eve blackout marks one of the most significant power failures in recent months, disrupting essential services and holiday festivities across the island.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.