A blackout that occurred at about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday night has kept much of Puerto Rico in the dark, with residents reliving Hurricane Maria scenarios where the sound of generators, the scorching heat and concern for lack of essential services were rising Friday.
Wayne Stensby, president and chief executive officer of LUMA Energy, the company that in June 2021 took over the reins of the transmission and redistribution of energy on the island, said the company believes the blackout was caused by a fire in a breaker in a plant in Guayanilla at the southern area of the island. It made the plant go out of service and, consequently, the network protection system was activated and turned off the other generators.
Around noon Friday, LUMA Energy consortium reported that about 660,000 or about 45%, of all subscribers had energy. That number hadn’t changed since it was reported at 6 a.m.
