San Juan, Puerto Rico —Crews worked early Thursday to restore power to Puerto Rico after a power outage throughout the island that affected the main international airport, several hospitals and hotels filled with Easter vacationers
The breakdown that started at noon on Wednesday left 1.4 million customers without electricity and 328,000 without water.
At least 175,000 customers, or 12%, had power at the end of the day. The managers expected 90% of customers to have electricity in the 48 to 72 hours after the breakdown.
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“It is a shame for the inhabitants of Puerto Rico that we have a problem of this magnitude,” said Governor Jenniffer González, who cut his short vacation short film and returned to Porto Rico on Wednesday evening.
Waterproofing traffic has forced hundreds of companies to close and leave those who cannot allow generators to rush to buy ice and candles.
It is the second power panel on the scale of the island to strike Puerto Rico in less than four months, with The previous one occurring on New Year’s Eve.
“Why the holidays?” Antriformé José Luis Richardson, who had no generator and did not keep cool by splashing water on himself every two hours.
Images Jose Jimenez / Getty
Breakdowns increases
The roar of generators and the smell of smoke filled the air while an increasing number of Puerto Riccans renew calls for government to cancel the Contracts with Luma Energywhich oversees the transmission and distribution of power, and the genres PR, which oversees generation.
González promised to listen to these calls.
“It is not under doubt or question,” she said, but added that it is not a quick process. “It is unacceptable that we have failures of this kind.”
González said that a major breakdown like the one that occurred on Wednesday causes an estimated loss of income at $ 230 million a day.
Ramón C. Barquín III, president of the United Retail Center, a non -profit organization that represents small and medium -sized enterprises, warned that current failures frightened potential investors at a time when Puerto Rico needs urgent economic development.
“We cannot continue to repeat this cycle of Panus breakdowns without taking concrete measures to strengthen our energy infrastructure,” he said.
Many were also concerned about the elderly population of Puerto Rico, the mayor of Canóvanas deploying brigades to visit the filter and those who depend on electronic medical equipment.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Vega Alta has opened a center to provide energy to those with vital medical equipment.
Cause of the last basket
He was not immediately clear which caused the last of a series of important breakdowns on the island in recent years.
Daniel Hernández, vice-president of operations at Genera PR, said on Wednesday that a disturbance had struck the transmission system shortly afternoon, at a time when the grid is vulnerable because there are few machines regulating the frequency at this time.
The island’s grid has deteriorated following decades of lack of maintenance and investment.
Puerto Rico has a hard time with chronic breakdowns since September 2017 When Hurricane Maria hit the island As a powerful category 4 storm, shaving an electrical network that crews are still struggling to rebuild. While the island was just starting to rebuild, it was again struck by Hurricane Fiona in 2022.
The island of 3.2 million residents has a poverty rate of more than 40%, and not everyone can afford solar panels or generators. Although there was a pressure to use more renewable energy sources under the administration of former American president Joe Biden, who supplied Puerto Rico with mega generators And other resources, experts fear that this will not happen under US President Donald Trump.