Puerto Rico Faces Widespread Power Outage, Over Half of Island Without Power

On Thursday, more than 60% of Puerto Rico’s 1.4 million utility customers remained without power following a large-scale blackout that hit the island on Wednesday. The outage left all of Puerto Rico’s functioning power plants offline, plunging the entire island into darkness.

The island’s energy czar, Josué Colón, informed the public during a press conference that the power was unlikely to be fully restored before the early hours of Friday morning. It would take at least another day to get all power plants back online following the systemwide failure.

Governor Jenniffer González-Colón acknowledged the severity of the situation, noting that the island faced a long recovery process with more than half of the population still without electricity.

This widespread power failure is another setback for Puerto Rico, which has struggled with energy grid reliability for years, especially after the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017.

For now, residents are continuing to face challenges as they wait for power to be restored. Many have been forced to rely on emergency lighting, candles, and backup generators while they cope with the ongoing outage.

The recovery process remains ongoing, and officials are urging the public to remain patient as they work to bring power back to all areas of the island.