SAN JUAN — A blackout hit Puerto Rico’s capital and surrounding areas today after two of the U.S. commonwealth’s main power plants shut down as officials warn the power company is struggling to remain operational.
The capital of San Juan was left without power, along with the neighboring municipalities of Caguas, Bayamon and Carolina, company spokeswoman Yohari Molina said.
Molina said crews were working to repair the problem but that wasn’t clear how many customers were affected by the outage. At least 970,000 people live in the areas hit by the blackout.
Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority (PREPA) tweeted that the Palo Seco and San Juan plants shut down to protect the electrical system, but it is unclear what caused the shutdown.
Officials said they aimed to restore power by this afternoon.