Vidostream | News, sport and opinion from the Vidostream's US Edition

https://vidostream.com

Puerto Rico Outage Leaves More Than 1.2 Million Without Power

Grid manager Luma says it is fixing the problem but full restoration will take 24 to 48 hours.

A dark street in San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital. PHOTO: RICARDO ARDUENGO/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

A dark street in San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital. PHOTO: RICARDO ARDUENGO/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

An islandwide outage left most of Puerto Rico without power on New Year’s Eve, with a full fix 24 to 48 hours away. 

Luma Energy, a Canadian-American consortium that took charge of the Caribbean island’s electric grid in 2021, said the outage began at 5:30 a.m. As of noon on the island, more than 1.2 million customers, or 83% of them, were without power.

On social media, Luma said the cause of the outage was under investigation, and preliminary findings suggested a fault with an underground line. The estimate for up to two days for full restoration depends on conditions permitting, Luma said.

The company said it would provide updates every two hours. In an 11 a.m. post, it said service was restored for the San Juan Municipal Hospital, while Culebra, a small separate island that is part of Puerto Rico, had service due to generators from Genera, which manages the U.S. Commonwealth’s power plants.

Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said there was already work being done to restore service at the San Juan and Palo Seco plants and the government was demanding solutions from Luma as well as Genera. 

Puerto Rico’s main airport, Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, said it was operating normally thanks to power generators.

Power outages have been a recurrent problem on Puerto Rico and have worsened since Hurricane Maria, a deadly 2017 storm that left about 3,000 dead and devastated homes, businesses and infrastructure on the island, including damaging or destroying about 80% of the power grid.

Many in Puerto Rico were glad when Luma took over the grid in 2021 after years of poor service from a state-run utility. But lengthy power outages and rate increases since then have angered Puerto Ricans. Supporters of the company have said it had to tackle long-neglected infrastructure that has been repeatedly damaged by storms. Luma has said it has also had difficulties with the labor force on the island.

Puerto Rico’s high electricity prices have prompted many residents to look at generators or solar systems as alternatives.

 

Power outages have been a recurrent problem on the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
 
Power outages have been a recurrent problem on the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. PHOTO: RICARDO ARDUENGO/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
 

Jennifer Calfas contributed to this article.

Author: Tali Arbel

Source: WSJ:

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website. By continuing to browse, you are agreeing to our Cookie Policy.
You did not use the site, Click here to remain logged. Timeout: 60 second