Widespread Power Outage in Puerto Rico Affects 88% of Residents

Wednesday 01 January 2025 - 14:33

In Puerto Rico, nearly 1.3 million households, accounting for 88% of the island's population, have been left without electricity since early Tuesday morning due to a massive power failure. This disruption has caused significant concerns across the Caribbean island, which is a U.S. territory.

The power outage resulted from a malfunction that caused both of the island’s main power plants—San Juan and Palo Seco—to go offline. The company responsible for the power grid, Luma, a U.S.-Canadian joint venture, confirmed the situation and stated that it was investigating the cause of the failure.

According to Luma, the repair efforts for this disruption could take between 24 and 48 hours. This issue highlights the ongoing vulnerability of Puerto Rico’s electricity infrastructure, which has been prone to frequent outages in recent years.

The island’s power grid has faced ongoing challenges since Hurricane Maria’s devastating strike in 2017, which destroyed or severely damaged approximately 80% of the electrical infrastructure. This left the majority of Puerto Rico without power for months, compounding the long-term difficulties for residents and businesses.

In response to these challenges, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has allocated close to $10 billion to fund repairs and upgrades to the island’s power system. Despite these efforts, power outages continue to disrupt daily life and economic activities, underscoring the need for further improvements in the grid’s resilience and reliability.

This latest power failure serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggles faced by Puerto Ricans in securing a stable and sustainable energy supply. The people of Puerto Rico, still grappling with the aftermath of past disasters, continue to face significant challenges in rebuilding and modernizing their infrastructure.