A widespread power outage left millions of Puerto Ricans in the dark on Wednesday after an unexpected shutdown of all the island’s power generation plants. This event, which knocked out electricity across the US territory, is the latest in a string of blackouts that have plagued Puerto Rico in recent years.

According to Genera PR, the private company responsible for operating Puerto Rico’s power plants, the outage was caused by an unforeseen shutdown at all the island’s plants. In a statement released on social media platform X, the company confirmed that the entire power grid had been impacted.

Luma Energy, the private company in charge of electricity distribution, reported that over 1.1 million customers were without power as of 2025 GMT. The company assured the public that it was investigating the cause of the outage and working diligently to restore power safely.

This massive blackout comes just months after Puerto Rico experienced another major outage last New Year’s Eve, and it continues a troubling trend of recurring power failures on the island. The island’s electrical grid has been facing serious issues ever since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, and the recovery has been slow.

In recent years, Puerto Rico has struggled to rebuild its infrastructure and update its power grid. The island’s energy system remains fragile and vulnerable to natural disasters, mechanical failures, and technical faults. Many Puerto Ricans have experienced regular power disruptions, further straining their daily lives and contributing to widespread frustration.

Puerto Rico’s energy crisis underscores the challenges that islands and territories with ageing infrastructure face when dealing with natural disasters and climate change. While some progress has been made in the recovery process, significant work remains to address the deep-rooted issues within the territory’s energy sector.

As of now, Puerto Ricans continue to wait for answers on when power will be fully restored.