History of power failures creates frustration with government and power companies

Puerto Rico has had a history of blackouts in recent years. Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island in 2017, damaged the power grid. Just this year, 350,000 people were left without power during a blackout in June, and 700,000 lost electricity as a result of Hurricane Ernesto in August. In past years, Puerto Rico’s electricity problems had been blamed on poor management by the state, including failures to replace aging infrastructure. In order to reform these systems, Puerto Rico privatized its energy sector, with Luma being given control of the energy grid and a separate company, Genera PR, chosen in 2023 to be in charge of generating electricity for the island. Despite the privatization, blackouts have continued and anger has been directed at the private corporations as well as the government for failing to significantly improve the energy grid as promised. The June power outages led to public protests and caused San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero to declare a state of emergency for the city.

Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Pierluisi posted on X that his office was in communication with both companies. “We are demanding answers and solutions from both LUMA and Genera, who must expedite the restart of the generating units outside the fault area and keep the people duly informed about the measures they are taking to restore service throughout the Island,” he wrote, according to a translation of the Spanish-language tweet.

Estamos en comunicación con LUMA y Genera, así como con el equipo de la AEE sobre el apagón masivo que afecta a gran parte de la Isla por una falla crítica. Podemos informar que ya se está trabajando en el restablecimiento del servicio con las plantas de San Juan y Palo Seco.…

— Gobernador Pierluisi (@GovPierluisi) December 31, 2024

As crews work to restore power quickly and safely across Puerto Rico, 2024 is set to end with another harrowing situation for an island struck by multiple crises in recent years. This latest failure is only adding to the list of frustrations Puerto Ricans have regarding the island’s government and the private companies that seem to be falling short in their promises to make things better.

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