Much of Puerto Rico experienced power outages on New Year’s Eve

San Juan, Puerto Rico – A major power outage hit nearly all of Puerto Rico early Tuesday as the U.S. territory prepared to celebrate New Year’s Eve. More than 1.2 million out of 1.47 million customers were without power, according to Luma Energy, a private company that oversees electricity transmission and distribution on the island.

It was not immediately clear what caused the widespread power outage or when power would be restored. Loma officials did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

In a post on X, Luma said it was in contact with crews and companies that oversee power generation in Puerto Rico to resolve the outage. She will provide details as soon as possible.

A spokesman for Genera PR, which oversees power generation, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi said Post on social media That his administration was communicating with both LUMA and Genera “in connection with the massive power outage that affected a large part of the island due to a serious fault.”

He said work was underway to restore electricity supply and that the government “demands answers and solutions from both LUMA and Genera, who must expedite the restart of generating units outside the fault zone and keep people duly informed of the measures they are taking.” To restore service across the island.”

Speaking to Telemundo late Monday, Jose Colón, head of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, said: He said it could take several days To fully restore service.

Puerto Rico still suffers from chronic power outages blamed on a crumbling power grid Devastated by Hurricane Mariaa powerful Category 4 storm that struck the island in September 2017. The system was already in deterioration before the storm due to years of lack of maintenance and investment.