Millions hit by Puerto Rico power outage as US territory's governor, power companies slammed for second blackout of the year

Puerto Rico has gone dark as millions in the US territory were affected by a power outage amid the Easter holiday weekend. This is the second time this year that the whole island suffered such a massive power outage, the first one being on New Year's Eve. This is leading to anger against Puerto Rico Governor Jenniffer González as well as power generation and distribution companies Luma and Genera PR.

Many Puerto Ricans took to streets to protest frequent power cuts.

Gonzalez was away when the outage happened, and faced criticism for being 'missing in action.'

Luma Energy, the distribution company, said it might take up to three days to restore power fully. It blamed the outage on a fault that led to safety protocols kicking in.

Only a handful of power plants were back in action by late Wednesday (Apr 16).

According to officials, only 7 per cent of the 1.6 million customers got power back.

There were protests and traffic jams on Puerto Rico’s roads.

Residents panicked to buy emergency generators.

Many lined up at gas stations for fuel. In the capital of San Juan trains were stopped, with passengers seen walking their way out.

The mostly Catholic island was particularly outraged as the blackout hit when people were preparing for the Easter weekend and Good Friday festivities. 

Many Puerto Ricans took to social media, asking the government to end contracts with power generation and discom firms Luma Energy and Genera PR.

More than 1.1 million out of the 1.5 million electricity customers were without power, said Luma Energy..

Governor González said her agencies were “working diligently” to resolve the problem.

Authorities traced the problem to a transmission line fault that may have led to the shutdown of power as part of a safety protocol.

Puerto Rico has faced frequent power blackouts in recent times.

The last worst one hit on New Year's Eve this year.  That time also, more than 1 million people were without power.

Electricity crews worked through the night and day to restore power, which had been gone for more than 12 hours.
Initially, nearly half of LUMA customers, or some 700,000, got power back.

Apart from homes, several hospitals, and essential amenity facilities like water, were affected

Puerto Rico has been facing power grid issues since 2017, when Hurricane Maria hit the island and knocked off much of its power lines.