Nearly the entire island of Puerto Rico was plunged into darkness early on New Year’s Eve due to a massive grid failure. At 9:30 a.m. local time (1330 GMT), around 90% of customers were without electricity, according to real-time data from LUMA Energy, the company responsible for power distribution.

LUMA Energy estimated that power restoration could take 24 to 48 hours, "conditions permitting." In a statement, the company attributed the outage to a suspected failure in an underground transmission line, though the exact cause remains under investigation.

Ivan Baez, a spokesperson for power generator Genera, described the outage as a "major incident" during a local radio interview. He explained that the suspected line failure, managed by LUMA, triggered shutdowns in Genera-operated plants as well as private generators.

Governor Pedro Pierluisi expressed frustration, demanding "answers and solutions" from both LUMA and Genera. In a social media post, he urged the companies to expedite repairs and keep the public informed about ongoing efforts to restore power across the island.

By mid-morning, Genera’s website indicated that two power plants were beginning to come back online.

Puerto Rico has faced persistent challenges with its aging and fragile power grid, worsened by the devastation of Hurricane Maria in 2017. Chronic outages have become a recurring issue, leaving residents vulnerable during critical moments like the New Year’s holiday.