The island of Puerto Rico is suffering another islandwide power outage, just months after a dayslong blackout on New Year's Eve kept residents in the dark.
Luma Energy said the complete interruption to its service began at about 12:40 p.m. Wednesday. That means all 1.4 million customers on the island were without power.
"While the cause of the interruption is being investigated, preliminary findings indicate an unexpected shutdown at all generating plants," the company said.
In an update early Thursday, Luma said 175,002 customers had service restored, comprising 11.9% of all customers. At least 328,000 clients were without water, officials said.
Luma said the goal was for 90% of electricity customers to have service restored within 48 to 72 hours.
The agency said six hospitals, Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport and two dams in Carraízo and La Plata had regained power by Wednesday night.
Genera Power, a private company tasked with managing and operating some power generation units owned by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, said it experienced "a massive power outage across the island."
Dozens of people were forced 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 close.
Professional baseball and basketball games were canceled as the hum of generators and the smell of smoke filled the air. Traffic became snarled as police officers were deployed to busy intersections.
“This is unacceptable,” said Josué Colón, the island’s so-called energy czar and former executive director of Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority.
Thousands of Puerto Ricans were fuming over the latest outage, with many renewing their calls that the government cancel the contract with Luma and Genera PR, which oversees generation of power on the island.
“This is a total disaster,” Orlando Huertas, 68, said as he sipped a drink with a friend at a streetside bar and criticized the government for not doing enough to tackle the chronic outages.
Reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny echoed the collective rage, writing on X: “When are we going to do something?”
Puerto Rico's Center of Emergency Management is coordinating with Luma and Genera to address emergency situations, it said on social media.
The San Juan airport is running on electric generators, limiting some of its services, it said on X.
"Flights are operating normally and are uninterrupted," the airport said. "We recommend passengers to arrive to the airport with plenty of time."
The New Year's Eve power outage, which lasted two days, was caused by an issue with an underground cable, Luma said in January. It's the latest in an ongoing struggle for the island since Hurricane Maria severely damaged Puerto Rico's power grid.
Puerto Ricans pay twice as much for electricity as those in the U.S. mainland, despite the unreliable service. Residents have grown angry and frustrated with power outages that have grown more frequent and last longer.
