SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A power outage hit Puerto Rico early Tuesday, halting power to nearly all of the island as more than 1.3 million customers were left in the dark.
According to The New York Times, as of 9:15 a.m. ET, only 14% of Puerto Rico’s utility customers had power, according to the tracking page of Luma Energy, which supplies power to the U.S. territory. The company said it was activating emergency operations to restore power and described the blackout as “systemwide.”
Officials said it could take up to two days to restore power to the island, The Associated Press reported.
Luma said in a social media post that “preliminary findings point to a fault on an underground line.” It said that it planned to restore power in phases, the Times reported.
“We can report that work is already underway to restore service with the San Juan and Palo Seco plants,” Gov. Pedro Pierluisi wrote on X. “We are demanding answers and solutions from both Luma and Genera, who must expedite the restart of the generating units outside the fault area and keep the people duly informed about the measures they are taking to restore service throughout the Island.”
Gov.-elect Jenniffer González Colón, who is set to be sworn in on Jan. 2, has called for the creation of an “energy czar” to review potential Luma contractual breaches while another operator is found, the AP reported.
Puerto Rico has faced several blackouts since 2017, when Hurricane Maria severely damaged the island and its power grid, according to the Times.
Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, the island’s busiest airport, said in a statement that it was “operating normally thanks to electric generators,” the newspaper reported.
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