**Puerto Rico Faces New Year’s Challenge with Island-Wide Blackout**

**Authorities investigate the cause of a massive blackout affecting millions in Puerto Rico, urging action on urgent power reforms.**

Amid the festivities welcoming the New Year, Puerto Rico found itself immersed in darkness early Tuesday due to a massive blackout that impacted nearly the entire island. Preliminary investigations indicate that the power outage may have stemmed from a fault in an underground electrical line, according to Luma Energy, which is responsible for power distribution in the region. While some areas began to see power restoration, Luma advised that full recovery of service could take anywhere from 24 to 48 hours.

By 10 AM AST (1400 GMT), only about 13 percent of the island's 1.4 million residents had electricity. However, power was eventually restored to critical facilities, including the municipal hospital in San Juan. The blackout highlighted recurring power struggles in Puerto Rico, echoing the sentiments of both officials and residents alike who have endured frequent outages since Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Jenniffer González-Colon, Puerto Rico’s current congressional representative and the incoming governor, voiced her concern on social media about the inadequacies of the energy system that consistently fails the citizens of the territory. Current Governor Pedro Pierluisi also called for immediate answers from Luma and Genera, the main power operators, stressing the detrimental impact of these outages on both the economy and daily life of residents.

The island has seen massive outages this past year, with incidents in June leaving around 350,000 customers without power during extreme heat and a subsequent blackout affecting over 700,000 after Hurricane Ernesto. The community frustration has been palpable, as one resident, Enid Núñez, expressed to US media that these power issues are part of her daily life.

Despite previous governmental efforts utilizing federal funds for rebuilding the power infrastructure post-Hurricane Maria, the recovery process has been plagued with delays and challenges, as highlighted in a February 2024 report from the US Government Accountability Office. Mark Levine, Manhattan's borough president, criticized the prolonged failure of the power grid to recover fully, reminding followers on social media that Puerto Ricans are American citizens who deserve better infrastructure.