Puerto Rico’s energy authority LUMA can’t appear to maintain the lights on, and now it’s the goal of a lawsuit by 4 companies who need $310 million in damages.

LUMA took over the island’s energy distribution in 2021, and it’s already dealing with its first main lawsuit from a number of huge meals corporations who say an outage in early April induced monetary losses. The 4 companies—MultiSystem Restaurant, Wendco of Puerto Rico, Apple Caribe, and Restaurant Operators—handle a number of restaurant chains on the island colony, together with Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and Applebees. They’re asking for $310 million in damages, which is an estimate of how a lot these chains misplaced through the outage, NBC News reported.

The blackout in query started on April 6 after a fireplace on the Costa Sur energy plant induced the largest energy outage on the island this 12 months to date. A day later, a couple of million folks had been with out electrical energy, and greater than 100,000 folks had no operating water (together with this writer’s aunt, who stated that week felt like residing within the Nineteen Forties). It took LUMA about four days to revive energy to these prospects.

The days of darkness value the island’s financial system as much as $500 million, El Nuevo Dia reported, and companies weren’t the one ones who felt the lasting results. Island residents protested outdoors LUMA workplaces in San Juan and threw bags of food that spoiled inside unpowered fridges.

Earlier this 12 months, a number of U.S. federal companies introduced a plan to attempt to repair Puerto Rico’s power grid alongside a transition to renewable power. With hurricane season simply starting, folks on the island are bracing for doubtlessly extra blackouts this 12 months. After Hurricane Maria in 2017, components of the island had been with out energy for a devastating 11 months.