Puerto Rico Power Outage: Residents Want Utility Company Luma Energy Out After Massive Blackout

Puerto Rico's electricity woes continued as yet another power outage hit the US territory on Wednesday night, which was later restored. However, Puerto Ricans now want Luma Energy out after this latest incident that left over 340,000 customers without any electricity.

This latest blackout happened after two of the island's power plants shut down. It mostly affected the capital, San Juan, but the neighboring municipalities of Bayamon, Caguas, and Carolina were also affected by the power outage.

Luma Energy soon released a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that the power e outage was tied to an issue with the power plants' transmission lines. A company spokesperson spoke with the Associated Press and stated that "the outage coincided with the shutdown of units operated by Genera PR, which operates and maintains state power generation units."

Much like the residents, the Puerto Rican government was also not happy with Luma Energy, which operates the transmission and distribution for Puerto Rico's power authority. Governor Pedro Pierluisi slammed the power outage on X soon after.

"The events that have been occurring in recent weeks with our electrical system are unacceptable," he tweeted. "While it is true that we have old plants and transmission lines in terrible condition, the people continue to suffer the consequences of the lack of sense of urgency that private operators are demonstrating."

However, the AP noted that both Luma and Genera PR were selected as private operators during his administration. This is but the latest in a recent string of power outages that hit the US territory since Hurricane Maria severely damaged its power grid in 2017.

Puerto Rico Residents Blast Luma Energy After Latest Power Outage

San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero declared a state of emergency for the city on Wednesday and also slammed Luma, saying, "There are thousands of children with specific feeding needs, as well as older adults who often need therapy machines to protect their health and often save their lives."

Mayor Romero also accused the electricity provider of "sharing limited information about the ongoing blackouts."

Luma Energy also gained widespread condemnation from everday Puerto Ricans, according to CBS News. Many demanded the ouster of Luma, lamenting that the blackout happened amid excessive heat warnings.

Power Restored After Massive Puerto Rico Power Outage, But Law Makes Want a State of Emergency

Luma Energy did manage to restore power on Thursday, but the damage has been done, with Puerto Rico suffering from massive power outages over the last few weeks amid a scorching heatwave.

According to ABC News, lawmakers in Puerto Rico are now urging Governor Pierluisi to declare a state of emergency to the federal government as these frequent and long power outages have "interrupted water service and imperiled the lives of elderly and ill residents who rely on electrical equipment for respirators and to refrigerate insulin."

"This is really dangerous," said Puerto Rico's representative to the US House, Jennifer Gonzalez. "At the federal level, what I'm suggesting is that Puerto Rico declare itself in an energy emergency situation so that any procedure with federal agencies can be expedited."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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