AND AGAIN: Puerto Rico plunged into darkness again as island-wide blackout hits.

Related: “Why is Puerto Rico’s power grid in such bad shape?”

For decades, Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority did not carry out the maintenance and investments the grid required.

It began crumbling over the years, and then on Sept. 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria hit the U.S. territory as a powerful Category 4 storm. It snapped power lines, toppled transmission towers and broke flimsy wooden light posts, leaving some people without power for nearly a year.

In the months that followed, crews focused on emergency repairs. It wasn’t until a couple years after the hurricane that actual reconstruction began.

In June 2021, the Electric Power Authority contracted Luma as it struggled to restructure its more than $9 billion debt, with negotiations still ongoing.

In January 2023, the authority contracted Genera PR to oversee power generation on the island as part of another public-private partnership.

Puerto Rico has been plagued by chronic power outages since Maria, with photographs and videos of transmission lines on fire becoming increasingly common.

González has said that providing consistent energy is a priority and distanced herself from renewable energy goals set by the previous governor. Her administration recently extended the operations of Puerto Rico’s lone coal-fired plant.

Curiously, despite at least five visits to the island, the previous administration’s energy secretary accomplished little in modernizing its electrical grid: Energy Secretary Granholm Takes Fifth Trip to Puerto Rico After Republicans Question Travel Spending.