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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