• A massive power outage in Puerto Rico left more than 1.3 million utility customers in the dark.
• Energy supplier Luma Energy said restoring power could take up to 48 hours.
• It said the outage appeared to be caused by the failure of an underground power line.

There was a massive power outage in Puerto Rico early Tuesday morning – and it could be days before power is restored.

The outage, which occurred around dawn, the Associated Press reported, left nearly 90% of private utility Luma Energy’s 1.47 million customers without power, the company told the AP.

Luma said the problem appeared to be due to the failure of an underground cable. It said full power restoration could take between 24 and 48 hours.

It said on its social media that the restoration of power would begin “in phases.” For example, at 11 a.m. Eastern time, the utility announced that it had restored power to San Juan Municipal Hospital, among other locations.

Still, many customers across the island region of the United States remained without power.

“It had to be December 31st!” a man standing outside a grocery store in San Juan told the AP. He said the power outage happened on his birthday. “There is no such thing as luck,” he said.

Puerto Rico has struggled with a sometimes fragile energy system for years – this was particularly evident in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017 and again by Hurricane Fiona in 2022.

Luma is responsible for distributing energy across the island, while a company called Genera PR provides electricity – both of which are under scrutiny because of the region’s frequent outages, the New York Times reports.

In a statement posted on Facebook and translated by the Times, Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said, “We demand answers,” adding that the two utilities must “accelerate the restart of power generation units outside the fault area and keep people safe.” duly informed of the measures they are taking to restore service across the island.”