Power has been restored to nearly 100 percent of customers of LUMA Energy customers on Monday after a fire at a power plant near Cost Sur plunged the island into darkness on Wednesday April 6.

On Thursday, Luma, which began operating the transmission and distribution system in June, reported that it had not found the “exact cause” of the issue.

As of Thursday, April 7, nearly 80,000 of Puerto Rico’s 1.4 million energy customers had power restored. As a result of the blackout, the government shuttered public schools and non-essential government offices. Some public transportation remained interrupted.

According to the director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), a circuit-break fire near the Costa Sur plant caught fire at about 8:45 p.m. and tripped emergency shut-offs at other units that resulted in an outage on the entire island of Puerto Rico.

The electrical service in Puerto Rico is the most expense and least reliable of any jurisdiction in the United States. Localized blackouts are typical. In addition, PREPA and the main power generator are working through bankruptcy.

Nearly 400,000 homes and businesses were without power on Thursday morning, according to Reuters. The blackout has also caused 170,000 customers without water, authorities to close some main rods, and caused traffic problems everywhere on the island of 3.2 million people. Residents were told to stay at home.

People who don’t have generators and have medical issues including diabetes, which requires the refrigeration of insulin, are worried about how long they can be without power.

Long lines formed at gas stations as people with generators who needed fuel. People with cell phones tried to charge them at businesses just as they did after Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm in 2017, hit the Island.

As of late Thursday afternoon, crews had restored power to some 500,000 customers.

Hurricane Maria caused a massive power outage throughout Puerto Rico in 2018 and the electrical grid has been exposed for more than 3 million people ever since. Emergency repairs were performed t the time, but company officials blamed an aging and badly maintained infrastructure for ongoing outages.

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency said late Thursday that it has authorized about $9.5 billion to Puerto Rico’s power company in September 2020 to rebuild the territory’s electrical grid. However, the power company has not yet received any transmission and distribution projects for evaluation and approval for a construction fund.

In June 2021, a fire at a substation in San Juan left hundreds of thousands of people without power. Another fire at a plant struck in September 2016 that also plummeted the island into a massive blackout.

No place is invulnerable of power outages. For peace of mind, you may want to consider purchasing a standalone generator to assure that you and your family remain in comfort and all appliances and small consumer electric products are fed power.

APElectric has a  wide stock of generators from some of the most  popular generator manufacturers in the United States. Visit the company’s website to learn about the products they have and how to select the right generator for your specific needs.