The outage was by a ‘combination of factors’ according to energy company Luma Energy.
Puerto Rico was struck by an island-wide blackout on Wednesday as residents of the U.S. territory prepared to celebrate the Easter weekend, energy distribution company Luma Energy confirmed.
The outage came after the island’s power plants were knocked out of service, the private company confirmed in a statement on social media.
According to Luma Energy, the outage began at approximately 12:40 p.m. local time.
The company said “an event was recorded that affected service island-wide,” meaning all 1.4 million customers were without power.
In an update at 5:30 p.m., the distributor said employees had begun reestablishing the electrical system after the “unexpected outage of all the power plants,” without providing further details.
Some of the plants had gone back online, which represented a “key step towards the system’s recovery,” the company said.
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“Our Emergency Operations Center remains active, coordinating efforts with government agencies and technical staff to ensure every step is carried out safely and efficiently,” the company stated.
The energy provider said it anticipated that service would be restored for 90 percent of customers within 48 and 72 hours.
In a final update at 8 p.m., Luma said staff would be working overnight to try to restore power but reiterated that some customers may not have electricity for up to three days.
“Our priority is to restore service to critical facilities such as Centro Médico [of Puerto Rico] and to clients as we have generation available,” the energy provider said.
Luma said it had conducted aerial patrols with helicopters and identified that the outage was caused by a “combination of factors,” though a preliminary analysis pointed to a “failure in the protection system” that sparked the incident, followed by “the presence of vegetation on a transmission line between Cambalache and Manatee,” it said.
“This sequence of glitches triggered a sequence of events that resulted in an island-wide disruption,” the company said.
Luma said the outage once again highlights the “fragility of the electrical system,” adding that it had raised the issue “since the beginning of its operations.”
“We remain committed to transforming it into a safer and more reliable one for all clients in Puerto Rico,” the company said.
The outage forced dozens of people to walk next to the rails of the rapid transit system that serves the capital, San Juan, while scores of businesses, including the biggest mall in the Caribbean, were forced to shutter.
The San Juan airport also said it was operating on electric generators, limiting some of its services.
The Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration said in a post on social media platform X that it is communicating with the White House and other federal agencies to “ensure that Puerto Rico receives the necessary support and that all essential services are restored as quickly and safely as possible.”
Elsewhere, Puerto Rico’s Center of Emergency Management said on X that it is coordinating with FEMA, Luma Energy, and power generator Genera Power to coordinate any inter-agency efforts and address emergency situations.
Puerto Rico has long dealt with chronic power outages as its infrastructure deteriorates, including a days-long blackout on New Year’s Eve that left more than a million customers without electricity.
On that occasion, Luma Energy said a preliminary review pointed to a failure in an underground electric line in the south of the territory.
In September 2017, Hurricane Maria pummeled the island’s power grid, which crews are still struggling to rebuild.
