Puerto Rico suffers 2nd island-wide blackout this year

ISTANBUL

Puerto Rico, a Caribbean island and unincorporated US territory located southeast of Florida, experienced its second full power outage in four months on Wednesday, following a system failure that knocked out electricity across the US territory.

Local power providers Genera and LUMA reported that the failure occurred at approximately 12:40 p.m. (1640GMT), cutting power to most of the island.

“As part of our efforts to restore the electric system, our personnel have continued working since the beginning of the event and will continue their efforts during the night to advance in the restoration of the service,” LUMA said on X.

The company estimated that “service will be restored to 90% of customers within 48 to 72 hours.”

LUMA said its aerial inspections found that a sequence of events led to the blackout.

“Preliminary analysis points to a failure in the protection system as the first trigger for the event, followed by the presence of vegetation on a transmission line between Cambalache and Manati. This sequence of faults triggered a sequence of events that resulted in an island-wide outage,” the company said.

It said the outage affected 1.4 million customers, or 76% of its user base.

Puerto Rico’s aging power infrastructure has long frustrated residents, who endure frequent blackouts and pay some of the highest electricity rates in the US, according to ABC News.

The last full blackout occurred on New Year's Eve, when a failed underground power line left the island without power for two days.