A major power outage plunged much of Puerto Rico into darkness on Tuesday, with the Caribbean island territory’s electric utility saying restoration could take up to two days.
The “island-wide blackout” began at 5.30am local time, Luma Energy, which manages power transmission on the island, said in a social media statement.
It said preliminary findings pointed to a fault on an underground cable as the cause of the outage — although the situation remained under investigation.
Jose Perez, director of external affairs at Luma Energy, told Agence France-Presse the fault “caused a cascade effect” leading to the general blackout.
“We have already begun the restoration process for some customers, and the entire process will take 24 to 48 hours.”
Puerto Rico’s electric utility company said restoration could take up to two days. Source: AFP / Ricardo Arduengo
The outage came as the island entered its high season for tourists visiting from the wintry United States mainland and just hours ahead of New Year’s Eve celebrations.
In a subsequent statement, Luma Energy said service had been restored to some critical facilities, including a medical centre and hospital in the capital, San Juan.
As of 1pm local time, initial efforts had restored service to 44,700 customers in the metropolitan area and the island of Culebra, amounting to 3 per cent of clients impacted by the outage, Luma Energy said.
The company earlier noted that the incident left its roughly 1.5 million customers without service.
Ismael Perez, a resident of Dorado, said: “The truth is that we have been dealing with this problem for a while.”
Dorado said there have been rumours an incident like Tuesday’s power outage could occur, expressing concern that residents could be left without power for more than two days.
Buildings stood in the dark early on Tuesday while traffic intersections were without stop lights, with only the headlights of vehicles lighting up the streets.
In a social media post, Puerto Rico governor Pedro Pierluisi said officials were in communication with Luma Energy and others on the blackout.
“We are demanding answers,” he said, adding that the public should be informed of the measures being taken to restore service throughout the island.
Luma Energy said it would provide regular updates on the restoration process on social media and share a timeline as soon as possible.
Puerto Rico, a Spanish-speaking archipelago, came under US control in 1898 and has faced perennial infrastructure issues exacerbated by the devastating Hurricane Maria in 2017.
The Puerto Rican power grid has suffered frequent outages since .