85% of power restored in Puerto Rico as New Year’s Eve blackout investigation continues

January 1 (UPI) — Puerto Rico was hit by a devastating power outage on Wednesday morning that left nearly 80% of the Caribbean island without power on New Year’s Eve, with power restored to more than three-quarters of residents.

LUMA Energy, the Canadian-American company that provides power transmission to Puerto Rico, said that as of 10:30 a.m. local time, 85.6% of residents had electricity and more than 1.25 million customers had their power restored.

LUMA said it has been working with GeneraPR, one of the companies operating the power plants on the island, to allow electricity to flow across the island.

“We can report that work to restore service to plants in San Juan and Palo Seco is already underway,” Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi said, according to CNN.

“We demand answers and solutions from LUMA and Genera, who must expedite the restarting of generator units outside the fault area and keep people informed of the steps they are taking to restore service islandwide,” he said.

LUMA said just before midnight on Tuesday that power had been restored to two airports in San Juan and confirmed that power had been restored to 31 hospitals, including the Rio Piedras Medical Center. The company said the cause was long-standing structural grid issues that were still under investigation.

“We will continue to communicate and work closely with island officials, the governor, governor-elect and mayor to keep them updated on the situation,” LUMA said in a statement on Facebook.

“While the exact cause of the outrage remains under investigation, the LUMA team remains focused on the complex process of restoring service to all affected customers.”

In November 2017, Puerto Rico’s power grid failed in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, leaving thousands without power; in 2022, when Hurricane Fiona arrived, the entire island was without power.