People in Puerto Rico left without electricity on New Year's Eve

Domino effect in the US after a system failure on the island of Puerto Rico

A system failure on the island of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the US, affected more than 1.3 million customers of the energy company LUMA on New Year's Eve, reported NBC News.

The force majeure occurred on Tuesday morning after a LUMA underground cable broke near a power plant in southern Puerto Rico. According to local authorities, the situation caused a "domino effect" that failed several other electrical substations. Some 80% of the island was then left without electricity^[1].

The Governor of Puerto Rico, Pedro Pierluisi, wrote on the X network that he was demanding "answers and solutions" from LUMA and Genera PR, the American company that took over the energy system after the protests on the island last May. The residents' discontent was caused by the same massive shutdowns of stations built more than 40 years ago.

LUMA and Genera should speed up the restart of the generators outside the fault zone and properly inform the people about the measures they are taking," stressed Mr Pjerluis.

LUMA has promised that it will fully restore the electricity supply within 24-48 hours, as soon as "conditions allow". The company indicated that some customers had their electricity supply restored before the New Year. Meanwhile, the capital's San Juan airport had to use its own backup generators for its operations.

It's not the first time electricity has gone out in Puerto Rico

Power outages are still something that many Puerto Ricans experience. A series of blackouts over the summer sparked protests and prompted the Mayor of San Juan, Miguel Romero, to declare a state of emergency^[2].

In 2022, New York Attorney General Letitia James called for a federal investigation into LUMA.

"Five years after Hurricanes Irma and Maria wreaked havoc in Puerto Rico, and after billions of dollars were spent to modernize and strengthen the island's power grid, residents continue to suffer frequent power outages and high prices," said a statement from Ms. James' office that year.

In 2022, seven tariffs were applied to customers. Today, Puerto Ricans pay twice as much for electricity as mainland American customers.

In 2023, Luma reported reducing its fault frequency by 30% in a year and launched a federally funded project to clean up the grid.

However, protests forced the US-owned Genera PR to take over the management of the previously state-owned plants, which are on average 45 years old, or twice as old as their counterparts on the US mainland, and heavily reliant on fossil fuels.

In Puerto Rico, more than 700,000 customers were left without electricity in August when the island was hit by tropical storm Ernesto.

Puerto Rico: Exclusive Territory and its rules

Puerto Ricans have been granted automatic US citizenship since 1917, but this rule is not written into the Constitution. The territory has no statehood and does not vote in American presidential elections. Only Puerto Ricans living on the mainland can participate fully in federal elections^[3].

Nevertheless, the island was the center of attention in the 2024 presidential race, when a comedian at a Donald Trump rally in New York compared it to 'garbage in the ocean.' The joke angered some Puerto Rican celebrities and Democrats living in the United States but did not prevent the Republicans from winning.

In response to Joe Biden's ambiguous statements on the issue, Trump arrived at the next rally with a garbage truck.