CNN
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A critical failure in Puerto Rico’s power grid has caused a massive power outage across a large portion of the island, according to a post on Gov. Pedro Pierluisi’s X account.

The New Year’s Eve blackout knocked out power to nearly 1.3 million users, or about 88% of customers, according to LUMA Energy, the Canadian-American energy company responsible for power distribution and transmission on the island.

“We can report that work is already underway to restore operations at the San Juan and Palo Seco plants,” Pierluisi said.

“We demand answers and solutions from both Luma and Genera, who must accelerate the restart of the power generation units outside the fault area and properly inform the population of the measures they are taking to restore operations throughout the island.”

Luma Energy’s Emergency Operations Center is working with Genera and other energy partners to restore the island’s electrical system and power as quickly as possible following a total outage at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, according to the X- The company’s account shows.

The full recovery process will take approximately one to two days, the company added.

The outage is just the latest time that Puerto Rico’s inconsistent energy system has faltered on a large scale.

Power outages on the island have long been a source of frustration for Puerto Ricans who rely on a fragile and poorly maintained power grid. Modernization efforts came to fruition slowly over several decades, first by a public institution and now by a private caretaker.

The collapse of the power grid in 2017 after Hurricane Maria left hundreds of thousands of people without power for months. In terms of the total number of hours of electricity lost, the blackout was considered the largest blackout in U.S. history.

Since then, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency has allocated $9.9 billion for permanent projects to repair the damage caused by Hurricane María. LUMA Energy took over management of the grid in 2021 from the state-owned Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, known as PREPA. Genra PR is responsible for energy production and began operations in 2023.

Nevertheless, the challenges remain. According to LUMA Energy, about half of all electricity customers on the island were temporarily without power following Hurricane Ernesto in August.

This is a developing story and will be updated.