Power slowly returns to Puerto Rico after sudden island-wide blackout


Approximately 47% of customers in Puerto Rico have had their power restored after an island-wide outage on Wednesday that affected 1.4 million.

Power company LUMA said over 689,000 customers have had power as of 8:45 a.m. Thursday. 

The blackout that hit around 12:40 p.m. on Wednesday also left over 300,000 people without water, snarled traffic and caused businesses to close all during Holy Week. 

It was the second sweeping power outage to rock the island in less than four months, with the last one unfolding on New Year’s Eve.

A tourist couple use their phones to light the streets in Old San Juan during a massive power blackout  on April 16, 2025 in Puerto Rico.
A tourist couple use their phones to light the streets in Old San Juan during a massive power blackout Wednesday night in Puerto Rico. Jose Jimenez / Getty Images

Puerto Rico Gov. Jenniffer González Colón said in a Wednesday press conference that she was told the outage was due to the transmission of power, not generators. She noted that every day that goes by without electricity, the island’s economy loses $230 million. 

Puerto Ricans protest outside La Fortaleza during a massive blackout in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, on April 16, 2025.
Puerto Ricans protest Wednesday night outside La Fortaleza in Old San Juan.Jaydee Lee Serrano / AFP – Getty Images

LUMA Energy stated in a Wednesday statement that the blackout was “caused by a combination of factors,” including a protection system failure as the initial trigger, followed by the presence of vegetation on a transmission line between Cambalache and Manatí, according to the preliminary investigation.

The company stated that service is estimated to be restored for 90% of customers within the next 48 hours.

By Thursday morning, over 224,000 customers, or about 17%, were temporarily without water service due to the outage, but 83% of customers had a normal supply of drinking water, Puerto Rico’s Water and Sewer Authority said. 

“Our personnel are working tirelessly to restore service to affected areas as soon as possible, and we project that the percentage of supply customers will continue to increase as the power system regains its generation capacity,” the agency said. 



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