Puerto Rico powerless after New Year's Eve blackout impacts 80% of Caribbean island

Puerto Rico suffered another blackout at 5:30 a.m. due to an infrastructure problem at a power plant on the island's southern coast, according to a report published by NBC News. 

The blackout left 80% of the island in the dark, prompting the governor to declare a state of emergency.

The crisis has impactedsome of the island’s most critical infrastructure points including Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, which posted on the X social media platform that it had to resort to run on generator power to sustain airport operations. 

More than one million energy customers were left without power across the U.S. protectorate since 5:30 a.m., the island’s energy company, LUMA, said in an update on X.

The Caribbean based energy company said that it was hoping to restore power to its customers gradually and expects to have the island fully empowered within 24 to 48 hours. 

Puerto Rico has a troubled history of blackouts. Puerto Rico’s power grid has had long-lasting problems after it was partially destroyed by Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm that hit the Caribbean territory in September 2017. 

Last summer, ADN America reported that demonstrations erupted after a number of repeated problems with the electrical grid, prompting the mayor of San Juan to declare a state of emergency.

LUMA said in a statement that the problem was most likely an underground cable and that it was working with partners to restart the island's power network. 

“LUMA will be restoring power to customers in phases. We’ve already begun the process of reenergizing some customers, with the full restoration process taking between 24 and 48 hours as conditions permit,” the power company said.  

Josué Colón, director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, said in a radio interview that a power line problem caused a “cascade effect” causing several power plants problems.

The power company official said it would most likely take “much of the day” to restore power.

Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said on X that he was in contact with both LUMA and the island’s private energy company, Genera PR.