Power back on in Puerto Rico after widespread blackout

Electric company crews in Puerto Rico have restored power to most homes and businesses affected by a blackout Sunday night. The outage started with a substation fire that knocked out another substation and two power plants. Replacing the damaged equipment could take as long as 10 days. A union representative called the incident “very strange,” noting a breaker should have prevented the problem. Crews are still trying to determine what sparked the fire. Puerto Rico’s electrical grid already had problems before Hurricane Maria battered the island last year, felling most of its power lines. The massive hurricane left much of the U.S. territory without electricity for months. More than 400,000 customers continue to wait for reconnection to the grid after the storm. Sunday’s fire illustrates how fragile the system still is, despite the millions of dollars spent so far on improvements and repairs.