Ongoing restoration efforts underscore the current state of the grid and the urgent need for funding of emergency response accounts to respond to major events during peak hurricane season.
San Juan, Puerto Rico – August 20, 2025 – As Hurricane Erin passed near Puerto Rico, its outer rainbands brought heavy rainfall, lightning, and widespread service interruptions. From the very beginning, LUMA’s restoration efforts have prioritized critical infrastructure, including hospitals, PRASA facilities, and emergency situations such as downed wires, in accordance with our Emergency Response Plan.
Customer Impact and Restoration Timeline
To ensure transparency, LUMA is sharing the detailed customer impact and restoration progress associated with Hurricane Erin:
- August 17, 5:00 a.m. (Peak Impact): Nearly 171,800 customers were without service (11.7% of total customers).
- August 17, End of Day: Service had been restored to the majority of customers, with fewer than 70,000 remaining without power.
- As of 9:30 a.m. on Aug 20: More than 99% of customers impacted by the weather associated with Hurricane Erin have been restored. *
Alejandro González, Vice President of Distribution Lines, stated, “It’s important to note that the restoration percentages reflect only the customers directly impacted by Hurricane Erin, not LUMA’s entire customer base. This highlights the scale of the progress we achieved in just hours—restoring power to the vast majority of the 171,800 customers who lost service at the peak of the event.”This distinction is critical to ensuring that restoration numbers are properly understood in the context of Hurricane Erin’s actual impact. While customer restoration numbers fluctuated as new, unrelated outages occurred simultaneously, LUMA has continued to respond as quickly and safely as possible to all events, prioritizing critical infrastructure such as hospitals and emergency services.
Transparency and Commitment to Safety
LUMA remained in constant communication with municipal leaders, through the dedicated Key Accounts team, addressing local needs and updating them on restoration progress. In total, the team has carried more than 1,000 direct communications – through phone calls, emails and other communication channels- with mayors and other local representatives across Puerto Rico during the event. “We’ve maintained constant communication with mayors and municipalities across Puerto Rico to ensure alignment with our Emergency Response Plan. As always, we remain fully committed to collaborating and working together with all stakeholders to support our communities during these critical times”, stated Melissa Pueyo, Director for Key Accounts at LUMA. Field crews, supported by the LUMA Emergency Operations Center (LEOC), worked around the clock to safely restore service. Every restoration decision was guided by safety protocols and coordinated closely with first responders, municipalities, and agencies to protect our communities.
Peak of Hurricane Season and Emergency Preparedness
As Puerto Rico moves through the peak of the hurricane season, LUMA continues to closely monitor the increase in storm activity across the region. With various systems already on the horizon, we know the risks to Puerto Rico’s fragile electrical system remain very real. LUMA will always respond to emergencies—no matter the conditions—with safety and urgency as our top priorities. However, our ability to respond effectively and sustain rapid restoration efforts is directly tied to the resources available.
Urgent Need for Funding Emergency Response Accounts
LUMA stresses with utmost urgency that Puerto Rico’s emergency response accounts are severely underfunded. Today, this account is underfunded by more than $220 million. As established under LUMA’s Operation and Maintenance Agreement, this account should always maintain a minimum of $30 million to ensure a rapid emergency response. Furthermore, any use of these funds must be replenished within 10 days. Neither of these requirements is currently being met. This critical underfunding is a direct and ongoing risk to Puerto Rico’s ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from major weather events that impact the electric grid. Without proper funding, response and restoration efforts will face delays and Puerto Rico’s communities will remain vulnerable when they most need protection.
About LUMA
LUMA is a Puerto Rican company that, since June 1, 2021, operates and manages the electric transmission and distribution system in Puerto Rico. LUMA is a mission-driven company focused on transforming the electric transmission and distribution system to deliver to all Puerto Ricans the reliable, resilient, clean, and affordable grid they deserve. As a customer-focused company, LUMA’s entire workforce of more than 4,500 employees is committed to delivering an exceptional customer service experience to its 1.5 million customers.
* This data is preliminary as of August 20, 2025.
