Puerto Rico experienced another widespread power outage on Tuesday, leaving 1.3 million customers—around 80% of the entire island—without electricity. More than 1 million energy consumers were affected since 5:30 a.m. due to an issue at a power plant on the southern coast of the island, according to an update from the energy company LUMA on X.
LUMA issued a statement explaining that the fault seemed to involve an underground cable, and the company was collaborating with partners to restore the island’s power network. "LUMA will be restoring power to customers in phases. The process of reenergizing some customers has already begun, and the full restoration will take between 24 and 48 hours, depending on conditions," the statement read.
In a radio interview, Josué Colón, director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, explained that a malfunction in a power line in the south triggered a "cascade effect" that caused several power plants to shut down. He mentioned that it would take "much of the day" to resolve the issue.
Governor Pedro Pierluisi of Puerto Rico posted on X, stating that he was in contact with both LUMA and Genera PR, the private energy company. "We are demanding answers and solutions from both LUMA and Genera, who must accelerate the restart of generating units outside the affected area and keep the public well-informed about the steps they are taking to restore service across the Island," he said.
The Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport confirmed that it was relying on electricity generators, but flights were still operating as usual.
Frequent power outages have been a longstanding issue for many Puerto Ricans. A series of blackouts during the summer led to protests and prompted the Mayor of San Juan, Miguel Romero, to declare a state of emergency.
These protests resulted in U.S.-owned Genera PR taking over the management of previously state-owned power plants. These facilities are, on average, 45 years old—twice as old as similar plants on the U.S. mainland—and heavily dependent on fossil fuels.
In August, more than 700,000 customers were left without power when Tropical Storm Ernesto struck Puerto Rico.
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US Treasury Department's System Hacked by Chinese Hackers
Earlier this month, Chinese state-sponsored hackers breached the systems of the US Treasury Department, gaining access to employee workstations and some unclassified documents, according to American officials. The Treasury Department referred to the breach as a "major incident" in a letter informing lawmakers of the attack.
The agency stated that it had been collaborating with the FBI and other entities to investigate the impact of the hack. China, however, denied any involvement, calling the accusations "baseless" and reaffirming its stance against all forms of hacking.
This incident is part of an ongoing series of significant and embarrassing security breaches in the US that are being attributed to China. A hack of telecommunications companies in December, for example, potentially accessed phone record data from a large portion of the American public.
In its letter to lawmakers, the Treasury Department explained that the hack involved China-based actors who bypassed security by exploiting a key used by a third-party service provider. This application offers remote technical support to Treasury employees. The compromised service, BeyondTrust, has since been taken offline, though officials noted that there was no evidence suggesting the hackers had maintained access to Treasury information after that point.
The department has been working with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and third-party forensic investigators to assess the full extent of the breach. Preliminary investigations pointed to a China-based Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor as the likely culprit. The Treasury Department's policy designates intrusions attributed to APTs as "major cybersecurity incidents."
As the agency responsible for overseeing global financial systems and economies, the Treasury has recently imposed US sanctions on China. It was informed of the breach on December 8 by BeyondTrust, a spokesperson told the BBC. The company first detected suspicious activity on December 2, but it took an additional three days to confirm the breach.
According to BeyondTrust, the hackers were able to remotely access several user workstations at the Treasury Department, as well as some unclassified documents. The department did not specify the content of these files, nor did it disclose how long the hack lasted or the level of confidentiality of the systems involved. It was also unclear which employees were affected or whether the hackers were able to create accounts or change passwords during the three-day window in which BeyondTrust monitored their activities.
While the hackers were likely engaged in espionage, seeking information rather than attempting to steal funds, the department's letter mentioned that a supplemental report detailing the incident would be sent to lawmakers within 30 days.
China's foreign ministry spokeswoman, Mao Ning, dismissed the US claims, calling them "baseless accusations lacking evidence." She reiterated that China opposes all forms of hacking and rejected the spread of false information aimed at discrediting China for political reasons.
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In the past year, two suspected Chinese hacker groups have been identified. Volt Typhoon is accused of infiltrating critical infrastructure organizations with the intention of potentially disrupting services, while Salt Typhoon is believed to be behind espionage operations, including the telecoms hack earlier this month. China consistently denies any involvement in these activities. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, DC, told BBC News that the latest accusations were part of a smear campaign with no factual foundation.
"The US needs to stop using cybersecurity to slander China and cease spreading disinformation about the so-called Chinese hacking threats," said embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu. At present, the US has not provided evidence linking China to the Treasury Department hack.
