LUMA restoration efforts continuing in the six municipalities most heavily impacted from Ernesto after restoring service to over 730,000 customers
San Juan, Puerto Rico, Aug. 20, 2024 – LUMA announced today that it has restored power to over 730,000 of the nearly 750,000 customers impacted by Tropical Storm Ernesto. As of 4 p.m. on Tuesday, more than 98% of all customers, or over 1.44 million, have power, including 212 out of 264 critical facilities impacted and crews continue working to restore electric service to the remaining 17,174 customers without power, including targeted efforts in the most heavily impacted municipalities of Fajardo, Luquillo, Maricao, Orocovis, Río Grande, Yabucoa as well as Vieques and Culebra.
“We continue to focus our efforts on the six municipalities that contain the largest groups of customers that remain without power. We understand the significant frustration that any outage, no matter the size or duration, causes for our customers, and our entire team continues to work both day and night to restore power to every impacted customer and community. We want to express our deep thanks to our customers, municipal leaders and emergency partners for their support as we continue our restoration efforts,” said Juan Saca, LUMA President and CEO.
LUMA encourages customers to call 1-844-888-5862 (LUMA) if they continue to experience any service interruptions as crews work to restore service to the remaining 2% of impacted customers.
Municipal Estimated Restoration Timeframes
LUMA continues efforts to restore customers across the six municipalities that have the greatest outstanding impacts from Tropical Storm Ernesto. These municipalities may experience variations in restoration progress due to the nature of the repairs to the local electrical system.
| Municipality | Estimated Timing for 90% Restoration | % Restored |
| Fajardo | Thursday, Aug. 22 | 86% |
| Luquillo | Thursday, Aug. 22 | 68% |
| Río Grande | Tuesday, Aug. 22 | 85% |
| Orocovis | Friday, Aug. 23 | 82% |
| Maricao | Thursday, Aug. 22 | 89% |
All data is approximate and as of 4 p .m. on Tuesday, Aug. 20. Municipality calculations are determined based on the best available information LUMA has at the time of reporting. In those cases where distribution feeders are split across municipalities, calculations include attribution of distribution circuits to the municipality which contains the majority of customers. ETRs remain subject to weather and anything which might interfere with safe working conditions.
Prioritizing School Facilities
LUMA has been actively working to identify and restore electric service to schools and has deployed resources to restore these locations in coordination with local leaders and the Department of Education. Through these efforts, as of 4 p.m. Tuesday, LUMA has restored power to 151 of the 173 identified schools and is focused on the 22 schools that remain without power due to damage to the electric system.
Coordination and Communications with Mayors
As part of LUMA’s commitment to communicating and coordinating preparation and restoration efforts before, during, and after the storm, the company has been actively engaging with mayors and municipal leaders daily as they are vital to supporting LUMA crews working to restore power to customers. These outreach efforts include daily regional meetings with mayors and members of their teams and over 1,524 direct contacts with municipalities since activating its emergency response on Tuesday.
Restoration and Response Efforts Underway
LUMA continues to follow the restoration process in accordance with its Emergency Response Plan, which, as of 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, includes:
- Dispatching damage assessment and restoration crews to respond to outages – 4,235 aerial and ground assessments completed, with nearly 3,000 miles patrolled by air and over 170,000 miles patrolled by ground that identified damages, including broken poles, downed powerlines, damaged insulators, other hardware and vegetation impacts.
- Utilizing emergency response resources including ground fleet vehicles and field employees to assess and repair damages – over 1,700 field workers have been deployed.
- Conducting restoration work in a coordinated manner and under high standards of compliance with safety, prioritizing critical services including health, safety, transportation and communications facilities – assessments identified 264 critical facilities that were prioritized for restoration, power to 212 critical loads, including 100% of all 66 impacted hospitals, has been restored.
- Continuing repairs and restoring power to all affected customers as quickly and safely as possible when generation is available, prioritizing the repairs that impact the largest groups of customers first – 58 transmission line segments have been re-energized and cleared of vegetation to support restoration efforts. Additionally, 100% of all 335 substations are in service.
- Providing customers with timely updates and sharing estimated restoration times (ETRs) across official LUMA channels – LUMA has completed 1,524 direct contacts with mayors or their representatives since activating its emergency response, and continues to share updates with customers, host daily regional meetings with mayors, and today announced the municipal estimated restoration times for 90% customers affected by Tropical Storm Ernesto.
Keeping Customers Up to Date
Regular updates will continue to be available through the news media, local radio, and the following LUMA customer resources:
- LUMA website: lumapr.com
- Twitter: twitter.com/lumaenergypr
- Facebook: facebook.com/lumapuertorico
- Instagram: instagram.com/lumapuertorico
- LUMA Outage Map: miluma.lumapr.com/outages/outageMap
- Mi LUMA App: miluma.lumapr.com
As a reminder, national or local news media requests must be sent to [email protected].
Urgent Public Safety Message: LUMA urges the public to put their safety first. Call LUMA immediately at 1-844-888-5862 (LUMA) to report any downed lines or electrical emergencies that require immediate attention. Remember to stay away from any low-hanging or downed power lines.
About LUMA
LUMA is a Puerto Rican company that, since June 1, 2021, operates and manages the electric power transmission and distribution system in Puerto Rico. LUMA is a company driven by a mission to transform the electrical transmission and distribution system to provide all Puerto Ricans with the reliable, resilient, clean, and affordable electrical service they deserve. As a customer-centric company, LUMA’s entire workforce is focused on safely delivering an exceptional customer service experience to its 1.5 million customers.
