A blackout hit nearly all of Puerto Rico early on Tuesday as the U.S. territory prepared to celebrate New Year's, leaving more than 1.3 million clients in the dark. Officials said it could take up to two days to restore power.
The outage hit at dawn, plunging the island into an eerie silence as electrical appliances and air conditioners shut down before those who could afford generators turned them on.
"It had to be on the 31st of December!" exclaimed one man, who gave his name only as Manuel, as he stood outside a grocery store in the capital of San Juan, grumbling about the outage that coincided with his birthday. "There is no happiness."
Nearly 90% of 1.47 million clients across Puerto Rico were left in the dark, according to Luma Energy, a private company that oversees electricity transmission and distribution.
By Tuesday night, more than 336,000 clients, including 16 hospitals and Puerto Rico's water and sewer company, had power back, according to Luma. However, the company's webpage detailing who remained without power was down.
"We understand the deep frustration this outage has caused, especially on a day like today," Luma said in a statement. "We apologize for the disruption to your plans."
Luma said the power outage was likely caused by a failure of an underground power line. It said it's restoring power "in the quickest and safest way possible." Hugo Sorrentini, a Luma spokesperson, told The Associated Press that the incident was under investigation.
Discover Puerto Rico, a not-for-profit organization that promotes the island, warned travelers about the outage on its website and asked that cruise ship passengers contact tour operators directly to determine whether they had generators and were open for the day.
Five cruise ships were scheduled to dock in Puerto Rico on Tuesday. While most hotels were running on generators, short-term rentals lacking them reported cancellations. The main international airport in San Juan remained open.
The blackout fanned simmering anger against Luma and Genera PR, which oversees the generation of power in Puerto Rico, as a growing number of people call for their ouster.
Governor-elect Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon, who is set to be sworn in on Thursday, has called for the creation of an "energy czar" to review potential Luma contractual breaches while another operator is found.
"We can't keep relying on an energy system that fails our people," she wrote on the social media platform X, adding that stabilizing Puerto Rico's energy grid would be her top priority in office.
Meanwhile, Governor Pedro Pierluisi said he was in touch with Luma and Genera PR, adding on X that "we are demanding answers and solutions."
