Millions in Puerto Rico without power following fire at plant

The lights are out across much of Puerto Rico, following a fire Wednesday at a power plant that provides electricity to most of the U.S. territory.

Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority announced that it is investigating the failure of two transmission lines of 230,000 volts each, and spokesman Yohari Molina told The Associated Press he is not sure when power will be restored. Fire officials say the blaze is out, but the outage caused an additional 15 fires across Puerto Rico, the result of malfunctioning generators. One fire was at a hotel in the popular tourist area of Condado, but officials say all of those fires have been extinguished and no one was hurt.

With the power out, schools, businesses, and government offices closed early, leading to traffic jams. Transportation Secretary Miguel Torres called on people to "cooperate and respect drivers and government officials... to avoid any regrettable incidents." On social media, many Puerto Ricans are questioning the cause of the fire, and lamenting the fact that their power bills are on average twice that of the U.S. mainland, AP reports. Officials with the Electric Power Authority, which has faced allegations of corruption, say they need more revenue in order to replace outdated equipment. The company has $9 billion in debt it is hoping to restructure.

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