Puerto Rico plunged into darkness ahead of Easter

A full-scale blackout leaves millions without power as the island braces for sweltering days and growing public anger.
Text: Óscar Ontañón Docal
Published 2025-04-17

The latest news on Puerto Rico. As Easter weekend approached, Puerto Rico was thrown into chaos by a massive island-wide blackout that disrupted hospitals, air travel, and daily life for 3.2 million residents.

With only a fraction of electricity restored within the first 24 hours, the outage underscored long-standing failures in the territory's energy infrastructure. Tourists celebrated under the hum of diesel generators while locals lined up for ice, to preserve food and medicine.

As frustration mounted, the governor promised to sever ties with the company managing power distribution. For now, it remains to be seen whether these promises will spark real reform or simply fade into the island's long history of electric woes.

Guayama, Puerto Rico /USA - November 12, 2017: Damaged electric power transmission lines in Guayama, Puerto Rico after the devastation of Hurricane María

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