SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: A week after Tropical Storm Ernesto passed over Puerto Rico, tens of thousands of residents are still without power.
Despite ongoing efforts, authorities have promised to restore power to all affected areas by the weekend.
As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 40,000 of the island’s nearly 1.5 million households were still without power. The situation is particularly bad in the northeastern coastal town of Luquillo, a popular tourist destination, where 30 percent of residents are affected by power outages. Other cities such as Fajardo, Rio Grande and Yabucoa are also significantly affected.
Luma Energy, the private consortium responsible for the transmission and distribution of electricity in Puerto Rico, is working around the clock to restore power.
However, the company is facing challenges from storm damage and a shortfall in power generation. Luma Energy’s president Juan Saca acknowledged residents’ frustration and pointed out that additional temporary outages could affect up to 70,000 customers.
The ongoing power problems have sparked criticism of Luma Energy, which has been under scrutiny since taking over management of the island’s power grid in June 2021. The company’s response to Ernesto has sparked calls from some officials to terminate the contract, especially as the island heads into an election year.
Despite the criticism, Governor Pedro Pierluisi supports Luma’s efforts. “Within three days, 96 percent of the population already had electricity,” he said.
Puerto Rico’s power grid is notoriously fragile, especially after Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017. The island’s energy office has raised concerns about the increase in the average duration of power outages per customer, which rose 9 percent between fiscal year 2023 and 2024.
As the island recovers, the search for more reliable and resilient energy sources has become a pressing issue.
Many residents, who struggle with high rates of poverty, cannot afford alternatives such as generators or solar panels, making it even more urgent to find long-term solutions to Puerto Rico’s energy problems.
“Given the damage caused by the storm and LUMA Energy’s inability to provide energy with precision and flexibility, Puerto Rico urgently needs other, more reliable sources of energy,” said Jesus Hernandez Arroyo, chairman of the island’s energy commission.
