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Massive power outage hits Puerto Rico after widespread power plant failure as residents prepare for Easter weekend

At least 328,000 clients in Puerto Rico were without supply of water and officials have warned that power won't be fully restored for another 48 to 72 hours.

A car drives through a dark street in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Photo: Reuters)

An island-wide power outage hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday after energy plants unexpectedly shut down, said power generator Genera as largely Catholic residents of the territory prepared for Easter weekend.

The US territory has long dealt with blackouts more often and the Wednesday outage was the second across the island in four months. Earlier, as the infrastructure of Puerto Rico crumbled, a blackout was reported on New Year’s eve due to chronic power outage.

In a post on X, Genera said that it was investigating the cause of the incident and working to bring the backup units online.

ACTUALIZACIÓN DEL SISTEMA DE GENERACIÓN:

Previo a la interrupción, el sistema de generación estaba produciendo la generación requerida para suplir la demanda energética de la Isla. Al momento, se continúa investigando la causa de la interrupción en el sistema eléctrico de Puerto…

— Genera PR (@Genera_PR) April 16, 2025

“Of the five Genera PR baseload units that abruptly went out of service, only Unit 9 in San Juan suffered a minor failure in the turbine’s atmospheric seal. The replacement part is now available in our warehouses, and our team is working to correct the situation as quickly as possible,” Genera stated in a series of posts on X.

According to LUMA Energy, which is an energy distribution company, the power outage in Puerto Rico began around 12:40 pm local time. The real time data from Genera’s website showed that all plants in Puerto Rico, until 2 pm, remained offline.

Tanto la Gobernadora interina Veronica Ferraiuoli como el Zar de Energía Josué Colón están trabajando diligentemente con todo el componente energético ante el apagón que ha afectado a un gran número de clientes. Tan pronto se tengan más detalles de la causa del apagón y el…

— Jenniffer González (@Jenniffer) April 16, 2025

“We will provide updates as soon as more details become available regarding the cause of the outage and the timeframe for restoring service,” Puerto Rico’s Governor Jenniffer Gonzalez said on X.

Meanwhile, an AP report claimed that at least 328,000 clients were reeling without supply of water and that officials have warned power won’t be fully restored for another 48 to 72 hours.

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