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Half of Puerto Rico Still without Power

Puerto Rico’s government website on the status of Puerto Rico’s recovery from Hurricane Maria reports, as of this writing, that nearly 70% of Puerto Rico has electricity. Like the claim that more than 96% have safe water, this is not exactly true.

That 70% figure, according to Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority interim Executive Director Justo González, just means that the power grid is generating at 70% of capacity.

The actual number of PREPA customers who have electricity is 55% — just over half. More specifically, this is “55% of customers who are able to receive electric power.” This excludes those whose homes and businesses have been damaged too much to receive power.

This 55% statistic also does not indicate how reliable the electricity is for the PREPA customers who are considered to have access; there have been reports of inconsistent availability.

A press release from Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello says that the governor has requested more workers from the States to augment the 3,500 workers currently trying to get electricity restored to people across the island.

Early discussions proposed a new electrical system relying on alternative energy sources and installations better suited to weather hurricanes, but now,  roughly100 days after Hurricane Maria made landfall, workers are just trying to restore power. PREPA reports that new “unexpected” destruction is being found each day as workers attempt to rebuild the 342 substations, 2400 miles of transmission lines, and 30,000 miles of distribution lines.

14,000 electric poles have been received on the Island, and 7,000 more are expected. Experts suggest that buried lines would be a better approach, but 100 days after the hurricane, residents are desperate for electricity and less concerned about the specifics of the rebuild.

“[W]e will not stop working until every person and business has their lights back on,” Gonzalez promised.

Puerto Rico’s electricity was unreliable before the hurricane, and the cost to PREPA’s customers was very high — commercial rates were more than double the average in the States, and prices overall were higher than in any State except Hawaii. One of the main reasons for the price difference was the need to import petroleum to fuel electric power across the Island. Puerto Rico is ideally suited to the use of solar power, wind power, and wave energy. A stronger electrical grid, more reliable power, and lower energy costs would make Puerto Rico more appealing for business investment in the future.

4 thoughts on “Half of Puerto Rico Still without Power”

  1. WITHOUT POWER FOR ONLY NINETY SOME DAYS, BUT WAY FAR WORSE FOR “ONE HUNDRED YEARS” WITHOUT POLITICAL POWER ! MILLIONS OF AMERICANS CITIZENS RESIDENT’S IN P.R. THAT’S WHAT’S UP !

    1. In 1898 Puerto Rico became a sort of slave territory for the U.S. We Puerto Ricans were brought under the American flag as “slaves” under none other than U.S. slave jurisprudence. I refer to the infamous case of Dred Scott vs. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (see pages 404-407). In said case the U.S. Supreme Court defined the elements of slave law in the U.S. 1) The negroes do not have rights that white people shoud respect; 2) Those who descend from black slaves brought as slaves to this country (the U.S.), can not enjoy rights, privileges and advantages of white people; 3) The political status (conditions) and the civil rights of negroes shall be determined by white people. This last legal provision was applied and extended to us Puertoricans. In the Treaty of Paris, 30 Statute 1754 (1898), the U.S. subjected Spain to accept that the people of Puerto Rico’s political condition or political status and their civil rights would be determined by Congress, not by us the Puerto Ricans. In this sense, it is quite very obvious that we as a people were denied full rights of self determination as modernly recognized by the United Nations Charter and mankind’s treaties underwriting national selfdetermination by colonial peoples under illegal foreign imperial domination. Thus, as shown, the people of Puerto Rico was subjected under U.S. slave law elements as found in the pre civil war decision of Dred Scott vs. Sandford. That is, the whole people of Puerto Rico was subjected to outright political and economic slavery by the United States. It now behooves the U.S.to release us Puerto Ricans from further polical and economica bondage. 120 years of said enslavement is more than enough for a country like the U.S. to insist and persevere to keep enslaving a civilized country like our. This slavery shoud end now. We must all demand to the U.S. to stop enslaving our country. It is too much to ask??—Dr. Nelson Rochet

  2. I believe that at one time history PR had a strategic value to the U.S. mainland. I don’t believe that to be true any longer. So, Dr. Nelson Rochet, you should rally your fellow Puerto Ricans and push for complete sovereignty, that would allow you out of the bonds of slavery, and into the abis of complete and utter chaos. This island is beautiful, the people are beautiful, but your leaders of the past and present (not every) have been or are so corrupt that it can’t govern itself. Did we mainlanders destroy your worthless grid during the hurricanes? No, that was your leadership and PR policies that did that. Did we force your corruption to be so bad that people on the ground trying to improve your quality of life have to be concerned for their personal safety while they do their best to help those that need it the most? Nope, you did that all by yourself. While you sit back and blame the mainland for all your problems, we’ll just do our best to help the real people of Puerto Rico, those that know that you nationalists and your corrupt politicians, can do nothing for them.

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