Outrage Over Power Giants as Puerto Rico Faces New Year’s Eve Blackout

Puerto Rico faced a massive power outage on New Year’s Eve due to the failure of its privatized power grid, leading to widespread anger at the private companies managing the system and the political figures who privatized the island’s public utility firm.

The blackout affected over a million residents, as reported by local authorities. LUMA Energy, the Canadian-American company responsible for the island’s power transmission and distribution, announced on Tuesday afternoon via social media that efforts were underway in collaboration with Genera PR and other power providers to restore electricity as swiftly and safely as possible.

Genera PR, affiliated with the New York-based gas enterprise New Fortress, secured a lucrative, ten-year contract last year to manage Puerto Rico’s power generation. In 2021, under Gov. Pedro Pierluisi’s administration, LUMA was selected to handle the island’s power transmission and distribution networks following Hurricane Maria. This 15-year agreement faced severe criticism from advocacy groups, labeling it as “terrible.”

“Focused solely on attracting American investment, the local administration has overlooked political protests, disregarded opposition party concerns, and ignored research advising against the privatization of the public power service,” wrote Pedro Cabán, a professor at the University at Albany in the Latin American, Caribbean, and U.S. Latino Studies Department, in The American Prospect last year. “To many Puerto Ricans, it appears that the Pierluisi government is bent on turning the archipelago into a dystopia for its citizens.”

“LUMA has gripped Puerto Rico’s energy sector tightly, and the people of Puerto Rico should not have to tolerate this substandard service any longer.”

The Associated Press captured the frustrations of Puerto Ricans during the New Year’s Eve blackout, occurring just months after another failure left 350,000 without electricity.

“Not on December 31st!” lamented a local named Manuel, celebrating his birthday on the day of the outage. “There’s no joy today.”

AP noted that the most recent blackout has “heightened the existing frustration with Luma and Genera PR… as more individuals demand their removal.”

Camille Rivera, leader of La Brega Y Fuerza, a New York-based advocacy organization rallying Puerto Ricans in the mainland, commented on Tuesday that “LUMA must repair the grid or leave Puerto Rico immediately.”

“Nearly a quarter into the 21st century, it’s absurd that Puerto Rico’s power infrastructure has failed its community once again,” Rivera stated. “The people deserve answers and accountability from LUMA for this debacle.”

“LUMA has Puerto Rico in an energy stranglehold, and Puerto Ricans shouldn’t have to endure continued inferior service,” Rivera continued. “By 2025, we need to usher in a new era—we must tackle the energy crisis head-on, reassess Luma’s role as an energy provider, and develop more resilient solutions.”

Conservative Governor-elect Jenniffer González Colón, set to assume office on Thursday, expressed on social media, “We cannot continue to depend on a failing energy system.”

AP highlighted that the incoming governor has “proposed appointing an ‘energy czar’ to investigate potential contractual violations by Luma while searching for another operator.”

Jeanette Ortiz, a San Juan resident, told The Guardian on Tuesday that “the blackouts have worsened” since the island’s power grid was privatized.

“People have been upset for some time,” Ortiz noted. “This is exactly the wrong way to end the year.”