Puerto Rico restores power after a massive blackout as lawmakers call for a state of emergency
A power company in Puerto Rico has restored electricity to most areas affected by a massive outage that hit the U.S. territory this week
BAYAMÓN, Puerto Rico — A power company in Puerto Rico announced Thursday that it has restored electricity to most areas affected by a massive outage that hit the U.S. territory the previous day.
The outage left over 340,000 customers in the capital, San Juan, and neighboring municipalities without power during a heat wave. On Thursday morning, Luma Energy said in a statement that it had restored power to most of its customers in the metropolitan and northeastern regions of the island. The company also confirmed that the outage stemmed from failures in two transmission lines between San Juan and Aguas Buenas.
Several lawmakers in Puerto Rico are urging the governor to declare a state of emergency to the federal government. Persistent outages have interrupted water service and imperiled the lives of elderly and ill residents who rely on electrical equipment for respirators and to refrigerate insulin, for example.
Electricity supply problems occurred for over a week in the island's southern region, and culminated in the massive outage on Wednesday night.
“This is really dangerous,” said Jenniffer González, Puerto Rico’s representative in the U.S. Congress. “At the federal level, what I’m suggesting is that Puerto Rico declare itself in an energy emergency situation so that any procedure with federal agencies can be expedited.”
González said that would also enable personnel from the U.S. Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance. Several mayors echoed her request.
About 5,000 customers across the island
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