Puerto Rico's Power Grid Fails Again, Leaving Most in the Dark

Waking up to no lights, no air conditioning, and no way to make coffee. That's what happened to nearly 90% of Puerto Rico's residents on New Year's Eve. A major power failure hit the island, leaving about 1. 3 million customers without electricity. This isn't the first time something like this has happened. The island's power grid has been struggling for a long time. The governor, Pedro Pierluisi, said that work was already underway to restore power using the San Juan and Palo Seco plants. But it's going to take a while, maybe even a day or two, according to LUMA Energy, the company in charge of power distribution. Puerto Rico's power system has been a problem for a long time. It's old and not well-maintained. After Hurricane Maria in 2017, hundreds of thousands of people were without power for months. The US gave $9. 9 billion to fix the damage, but the problems keep happening. Even after Hurricane Ernesto in August, half of the island's electric customers were without power at some point. It's a big deal because people rely on electricity for everything from cooking to staying cool.