Widespread outage hits Puerto Rico as customers demand ouster of private electric company
A widespread power outage has hit Puerto Rico and left more than 300,000 customers without electricity after two of the U.S. territory’s power plants shut down
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A widespread power outage hit Puerto Rico Wednesday night, leaving more than 300,000 customers without electricity after two of the U.S. territory’s power plants shut down.
The capital of San Juan was left without power, as well as neighboring municipalities including Bayamón, Caguas and Carolina.
Luma Energy, which operates transmission and distribution for Puerto Rico’s power authority, said on X that the outage was tied to an issue with the power plants’ transmission lines. It provided a statement to The Associated Press saying it was investigating the outage that coincided with the shutdown of units operated by GeneraPR, which operates and maintains state power generation units.
The outage is the most recent in a string of blackouts to hit Puerto Rico, which is still trying to rebuild the grid after Hurricane Maria razed it in 2017 as a Category 4 storm.
The outage prompted the mayor of the San Juan capital, Miguel Romero, to declare a state of emergency late Wednesday as he accused Luma of sharing limited information about the ongoing blackouts.
“There are thousands of children with specific feeding needs, as well as older adults who often need therapy machines to protect their health and often save their lives,” the decree stated.
Scores of Puerto Ricans took to social media to condemn the most recent outage and demand the ouster of Luma, noting that it occurred amid excessive heat warnings. Not all on the island of 3.2 million people with a poverty rate of more than 40% can afford generators or solar panels.