An island-wide blackout in Puerto Rico has left 1.3 million experiencing a lack of power on New Year’s Eve. According to LUMA Energy – the island territory’s power provider – the outage began at 5:30 a.m. on December 31. Within hours of the blackout, LUMA claimed on its X account that it had started working with the power generation company Genera PR and others to “restart” Puerto Rico’s electrical system. By 1:00 p.m., LUMA disclosed that about 3% of those impacted had received power restorations. Of the restored areas were the Culebra municipality and “certain critical facilities, including the San Juan Medical Center and Municipal Hospital.”
At the time of this reporting, the official cause of the island-wide power outage remains unknown.
LUMA continúa trabajando con los colaboradores de generación para restaurar el servicio en toda la isla
— LUMA Puerto Rico (@lumaenergypr) December 31, 2024
El Centro de Operaciones de Emergencia de LUMA está activado y actualmente estamos trabajando en estrecha colaboración con GeneraPR y otras generatrices para restaurar la…
The Associated Press noted that “blackouts are rare,” but Puerto Rico’s electrical system has struggled with power outages. Blackouts refer to widespread power outages with a longer lack of electricity than those usually caused by minor scale incidences. The 1.3 million people impacted by the New Year’s Eve blackout make up almost 90% of LUMA’s 1.47 customers across the island.
“We can report that work is already underway to restore service with the San Juan and Palo Seco plants,” Governor Pedro Pierluisi said the morning of Puerto Rico’s power outage. “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.”
How Does The Current Puerto Rico Power Outage Impact Travelers?
The complete restoration process is happening in phases and is anticipated to take up to 48 hours. With that in mind, celebrations for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day may be in the dark. Reportedly, some businesses, parks, and shopping centers remain closed.
Puerto Rico’s main airport, Luis Muñoz Marín International, shared on X early on December 31 that it wasn’t experiencing flight interruptions. The flight hub, Puerto Rico’s largest, detailed that things were “operating normally thanks to power generators.”
