Puerto Rico suffered widespread power outages that left the island completely dark on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. The Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration stated, “Today’s massive blackout highlights the continued fragility of Puerto Rico’s power grid.” They added, “From the onset of the outage, Governor [Jenniffer]González-Colon convened agency heads to ensure critical infrastructure remains operational and that essential services, including our hospitals, continue to function without interruption.”
In a social media post shared on April 17, 2025, Governor González-Colón said, “We continue to report and monitor for decent electricity service. Today we share updated information on the restoration of electricity on the island. Our monitoring work at LUMA continues, ensuring that all families receive the electricity they deserve, fairly and efficiently.”
On the day of the outage, she also posted, “Both Interim Governor Veronica Ferraiuoli and Energy Czar Josué Colón are working diligently with the entire energy sector to address the outage that has affected a large number of customers.”
In the midst of these outages across La Isla del Encanto, many are wondering what caused this situation and when the island’s residents can expect electricity to be fully restored.
Why Are There Power Outages in Puerto Rico?
According to the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, the blackout was caused “By a transmission line failure between the Cambalache power plant and the municipality of Manati. While the cause is still under investigation, efforts to restore electricity are already underway.”
This isn’t the first time the island has experienced such blackouts. Puerto Rico has previously endured long waits for power restoration, especially during catastrophic hurricanes such as Hurricane Maria in 2017.
How Many People in Puerto Rico Have No Power?
More than 1.4 million residents lost electricity, according to The New York Times.
Is the Puerto Rico Blackout Over Now?
As of the latest update from the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, “Over 266 megawatts have been brought back online, and we expect the system to continue recovering gradually throughout the night.”
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