Puerto Rico suffers islandwide power outage

The power outage occurred as many island residents were getting ready for Holy Week vacation. Traffic jams were prevalent because traffic lights were not working. (Jannette Rivera)

By The Star Staff

Puerto Rico endured an islandwide power outage on Wednesday that was expected to leave more than 1.5 million customers without power into today.

Josué Colón Ortiz, the island’s energy czar, said the exact cause of the blackout, which occurred at 12:40 p.m., was not known as of midafternoon Wednesday. He said malfunctions at the San Juan power plant and at the Costa Sur power plant in Peñuelas caused all generation to stop working.

Other reports indicated shutdowns at several power plants. Besides San Juan and Costa Sur, the generating units at Palo Seco in Toa Baja and the private natural gas-fired EcoEléctrica plant in Peñuelas went out of service, according to the Genera PR website.

At press time, officials in charge of the power grid were stabilizing the system to turn on units using blackstart units. They said customers would have to wait at least 36 hours before power would be restored.

The outage occurred as many island residents were getting ready for Holy Week vacation. Traffic jams were prevalent because traffic lights were not working. The Urban Train that serves the San Juan metropolitan area had to stop operations, and 162 people were evacuated from the train’s cars, without incident, following the power outage.

Integrated Transportation Authority Executive Director Josué Menéndez said the evacuees would “be transported by bus to their final destination.”

Meanwhile, many stores were remaining open Wednesday with alternate sources of power.

LUMA Energy, the private operator of the island’s electric power transmission and distribution system, issued a statement shortly after the blackout, whose cause it said “is being investigated.”

“We will continue working in coordination with [power plant operator] Genera PR, Eco Eléctrica, and AES to identify the cause and safely restore service,” the statement said.

LUMA activated its Emergency Operations Center “to coordinate efforts with relevant agencies and begin restoring service as safely as possible,” the statement added.

“We are reporting that we have experienced a massive island-wide blackout due to the unexpected shutdown of all generating plants, including those of Genera PR and other private generators,” Genera PR, which operates the island’s legacy power plants, said in a statement. “… Our team is working immediately to bring backup units online and investigate the causes of this sudden event. We are aware of the seriousness of the situation and the impact this represents for our citizens.”

Bureau of Emergency Management and Disaster Administration (NMEAD by its acronym in Spanish) Commissioner Ángel Jiménez Colón posted on social media that NMEAD was in communication with Public Safety Secretary Arturo Garffer “and commissioners from the other bureaus, as well as personnel from FEMA Puerto Rico, LUMA, and Genera PR to coordinate any interagency efforts and address any emergency situation.”

Hospitals reported operating normally

Dr. Rosa Castro, president of the Health Services Administrators Association of Puerto Rico, said meanwhile that the island’s hospitals were operating normally and offering services without incident following Wednesday’s blackout.

“Thanks to emergency protocols and the proactive planning of our hospital administrators, these institutions continue to provide essential services with responsibility and commitment,” Castro said. “Although two medical institutions reported partial failures in one of their generators, the technical teams responded quickly and the situation was immediately under control.”

She emphasized that “[o]n this occasion, we have direct communication with the Secretary of Health, Dr. Víctor Ramos, and his team.”

“We are vigilant, and our administrators are in direct communication with the regional health councils,” Castro said. “Our administrators are trained to handle these types of eventualities. Hospitals do not improvise, and we have emergency plans.”

It was reported separately that the emergency room at the Río Piedras Medical Center (Centro Médico) continued to operate normally during the blackout, as confirmed by the Medical Services Administration, which reinforces the effectiveness of the center’s contingency plans.

EDITOR’S NOTE: So that our employees can spend more time with their families during Holy Week, the STAR will not publish on Good Friday, April 18.