Puerto Rico was beaten by another mass power cut on Wednesday, leaving the territory of the United States in the dark for the second time in four months, authorities said.
The local electrical authorities, genres and luma, registered a system failure at approximately 12:40 pm that affected the service throughout the island.
In an X postLuma Energy said that it could take two to three days to restore the service to 90% of customers, and that the priority for now is to restore power to critical facilities, such as the Medical Center Hospital in the capital of San Juan.
A couple of tourists uses their phones to light the streets in Viejo San Juan during a massive power blackout that affected the entire island on April 16, 2025 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The cause of the interruption of electricity is being investigated after the 1.4 million residents of the island lost energy on Wednesday.
José Jiménez/Getty images
The private electricity company, responsible for the transmission of energy on the island, said that the mass interruption seems to have been caused by a combination of factors, including a “failure in the protection system as an initial trigger” and vegetation in a transmission line between the areas of Campaleche and Manatí, along the north coast of the island.
“This sequence of failures triggered a chain of events that resulted in an interruption throughout the island,” Luma said in the statement.
People dinner at the Chino Santurce restaurant during a massive power blackout that affected the entire island on April 16, 2025 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The cause of the interruption of electricity is being investigated after the 1.4 million residents of the island lost energy on Wednesday.
José Jiménez/Getty images
The interruption affected 1.4 million customers from Luma Energy, impacting 76% of its customer base, the company said.
“This event once again highlights the fragility of the electrical system, something that Luma has indicated since the beginning of its operations,” said the company in the statement. “We are still committed to transforming it into a safer and more reliable system for all customers in Puerto Rico.”
The cars drive along the Ramon Baldorioty de Castro road affected by a massive energy blackout affected the entire island on April 16, 2025 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The cause of the interruption of electricity is being investigated after the 1.4 million residents of the island lost energy on Wednesday.
José Jiménez/Getty images
Early in the day, Luma Energy said the Palo Seco plant, located on the outskirts of San Juan, returned online around 3 pm, “which represents a key step towards the recovery of the system.”
Representative Ritchie Torres (D-NY) said in a publication on social networks that more than 400,000 Puerto Ricans had no electricity.
In this photo published on social networks, people get out of the train and walk in San Juan, Puerto Rico, after a blackout occurred on April 16, 2025.
@gianndelrey/x
“The three million American citizens of Puerto Rico have denied affordable and reliable electricity, despite paying some of the highest public services rates in the United States,” Torres said. “Access to reliable power, a basic right, most Americans take for granted, the weekly beyond millions on the island. As we speak, more than 400,000 Puerto Ricans do not have electricity in the richest nation on Earth. That is a national misfortune.”
This interruption is the last of a series of significant blackouts that have affected the island in recent years, after the devastation of Hurricane Maria in 2017, which destroyed much of the electricity network. Governor Jenniffer González, who was traveling, declared that officials were “working diligently” to resolve the interruption.
In this archive photo of December 31, 2024, residential buildings and a hotel are seen in the dark in San Juan, Puerto Rico after a great energy cut arrived on the island.
Ricardo Ardungo/AFP through Getty Images, Archive
The aged energy infrastructure of the island has been a persistent source of frustration for residents, who face frequent interruptions and some of the highest electricity rates in the United States.
In this October 15, 2021, File Photo, Marcha protesters during a demonstration against Luma Energy in what the organizers called all Puerto Rico against Luma, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Miles marched to the Las América Highway (PR52) to express their disgust with the private company.
Angel Valentin/Getty images, file
In December, Puerto Rico experienced a blackout throughout the island on the eve of the New Year when a failure of the underground electricity submerged the island in the dark for two days.
The power cuts have become so common in Puerto Rico that many residents have installed solar panels and batteries in their homes and businesses. The continuous instability of the Electricity Network has also led to protests, and many criticized Luma, which took over the transmission and distribution of energy in 2021.
ABC News Jack Moore contributed to this report.
