Why blame my brother in law Rafa, whose father was Governor, Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority struggles to restructure more than $9 billion in debt, struggles with chronic power outages, relies on petroleum to generate more than 60% of Puerto Rico’s energy. Governor-elect Jenniffer González Colón, who is set to be sworn in on Jan. 2, has called for the creation of an “energy czar”.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — 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 only gave his name 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.
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 González Colón, who is set to be sworn in on Jan. 2, 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, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said he was in touch with Luma and Genera PR, adding on X that “we are demanding answers and solutions.”
President Joe Biden was briefed on the outage, and U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm spoke with Pierluisi and at the president’s direction offered federal assistance to speed power restoration.
While island-wide blackouts are rare in Puerto Rico, the U.S. territory struggles with chronic power outages blamed on a crumbling power grid that was razed by Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm in September 2017.
The system, however, was already in decline after years of lack of maintenance and investment.
Only recently did crews start making permanent repairs to Puerto Rico’s power grid following Hurricane Maria. The island continues to depend on generators provided by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency to help stabilize the grid.
In November, Puerto Rico’s government asked U.S. officials for permission to keep using more than a dozen portable generators for two additional years.
Some Puerto Ricans took the latest outage in stride.
“They’re part of my everyday life,” said Enid Núñez, 49, who said she ate breakfast before work thanks to a small gas stove she bought for such events.
Meanwhile, Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority struggles to restructure more than $9 billion in debt, the largest of the island’s government agencies.
Power plants that rely on petroleum generate more than 60% of Puerto Rico’s energy, followed by natural gas and coal. Solar rooftops account for only about 7% of electricity consumption on an island with a poverty rate over 40%.
https://apnews.com/article/puerto-rico-power-outage-b594dc464d469b812dc9b65c76cc16e9
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