Puerto Rico recovers power for 47% after island-wide blackout

Puerto Rico experienced a major island-wide blackout on Wednesday, leaving over half of its 1.4 million utility customers without power, as well as impacting water service and causing widespread disruptions. By Thursday morning, Luma Energy, the company managing the power grid, had restored electricity to roughly 41.5% to 47% of customers, with efforts underway to reach 90% restoration within 48 hours. The blackout, which also left over 300,000 people without water and disrupted businesses during Holy Week, was reportedly triggered by a protection system failure and worsened by vegetation on a key transmission line. Puerto Rico Gov. Jenniffer González Colón confirmed the outage was a transmission issue, not a generation one, and warned of significant daily economic losses due to the power loss. This incident follows a series of recent blackouts on the island, highlighting the ongoing fragility of Puerto Rico's power infrastructure since Hurricane Maria in 2017. Authorities and utility officials are continuing investigations and repairs, with a long road ahead to full recovery.