The for-profit operators of Puerto Rico’s power grid and the government officials who agreed to the privatization scheme faced fresh backlash Thursday after the U.S. territory was plunged into darkness yet again, leaving 1.4 million people without electricity and hundreds of thousands without water.
The blackout began Wednesday after “energy plants across the island unexpectedly shut down,” Reutersreported, citing Genera PR, which in 2023 received a multimillion-dollar contract to run Puerto Rico’s power generators.
LUMA Energy, a private Canadian-American firm, oversees the island’s power transmission and distribution.
Officials said that crews were still working Thursday to restore power across the island as public frustration mounted. The blackout comes just months after a New Year’s Eve outage left more than a million people in the dark.
“This is what happens when you let sketchy private companies run public infrastructure into the ground,” said Democratic New York City Councilmember Justin Brannan. “No answers. No accountability. Just another disaster for the Puerto Rican people to suffer through. Now more than ever, LUMA Energy must be removed.”
“Let’s be clear: New York City has the largest Puerto Rican population outside the island,” Brannan added. “The bond between our city and Puerto Rico runs deep. And when your family is hurting, you show up.”
NPRreported Thursday that “the roar of generators and smell of fumes filled the air as a growing number of Puerto Ricans renewed calls for the government to cancel the contracts with Luma Energy… and Genera PR.”
During a press conference on Thursday, Republican Puerto Rico Gov. Jenniffer González said she “would like to cancel the contract today or tomorrow” but suggested it would take time to implement an alternative.
“It is unacceptable that we have failures of this kind,” she added.
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