Full blackout hits the Dominican Republic as crews scramble to restore power – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — A rare blackout hit the entire Dominican Republic on Tuesday, snarling traffic and paralyzing businesses in the country of nearly 11 million people.

Officials blamed a failure in the grid’s transmission system, although it wasn’t immediately clear what caused it.

Generation units in San Pedro de Macorís and the Quisqueya Power Plant shut down, triggering a cascade of failures at other transmission and generation plants, according to the Dominican Electricity Transmission Company, a decentralized state agency.

It wasn’t immediately clear how quickly power would be restored.

The blackout disrupted mass transit systems including the metro in the capital, Santo Domingo.

Nearly 60% of the Dominican Republic’s energy supply is fueled by oil and its products, followed by coal, natural gas, and to a lesser extent, solar, wind and hydroelectric power, according to the International Energy Agency.

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