Massive power outage leaves a third of Puerto Rico in the dark

Massive power outage leaves a third of Puerto Rico in the dark
Reuters
April 7, 2022, 2:37 PM

(Reuters) - Crews in Puerto Rico worked to restore electricity to almost a third of the island on Thursday as utility officials tried to pinpoint the exact cause of the massive outage on the Caribbean island, saying a fire at a power plant may be responsible.

Some 400,000 of the 1.4 million homes and businesses in the U.S. territory were without power on Thursday morning, according to a Reuters tally.

Puerto Rico's LUMA Energy may take until well into Thursday or even Friday to restore power to some areas, given the massive size and scope of the outage, the power company said.

"LUMA teams are responding and working to restore service as quickly as possible," it said.

The exact cause of the island-wide power outage was unknown, LUMA said, but a failed circuit breaker at Costa Sur power plant may be to blame.

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority posted a video on Twitter of a fire at the plant in Guayanilla, a town in southwest Puerto Rico, on Wednesday night.

Hurricane Maria, which wiped out power to all of Puerto Rico in 2018, exposed the fragile state of the electrical grid on the island of 3.3 million people.

"I urge all our people to remain calm," Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi said in a Tweet on Thursday.