Jenniffer González Colón was sworn in as Puerto Rico's new governor as the island grapples with a major blackout that left 1.3 million customers in the dark. The blackout, which occurred on New Year's Eve, overshadowed the normally festive inauguration ceremony. González has promised to address the energy crisis by appointing an 'energy czar' to investigate potential contractual breaches with Luma Energy, the private company overseeing power transmission and distribution.
A street is dark during a blackout in San Juan, Puerto Rico , after sunset on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024.
However, no contract can be canceled without prior approval from Puerto Rico’s Energy Bureau and a federal control board that oversees the island’s finances. Backup generators were put in place to ensure a smooth swearing-in ceremony on Thursday given that renowned musicians were scheduled to perform.
It was the first time that the Popular Democratic Party, which supports the island’s territorial status quo and is one of Puerto Rico’s two main parties,While González’s immediate challenge is Puerto Rico’s fragile power grid, she also inherits a feeble economy that has slowly been strengthening since the U.S. territory’s government declared in 2015 that it was unable to pay its more than $70 billion public debt load.
She also faces pressure to create affordable housing, lower power bills and the general cost of living, reduce violent crime, boost Puerto Rico’s economy, with the island locked out of capital markets since 2015, and improve a limping health care system as thousands of doctors flock to the U.S. mainland.
Puerto Rico Blackout Governor Swearing In Energy Crisis
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