Puerto Ricans Remain Powerless

A brief overview of how the Puerto Rican people remain at the mercy of the US - even for electricity

(Photo from a recent trip to Ponce, Puerto Rico.)

Ten days after Hurricane Fiona hit the island of Puerto Rico, hundreds of thousands of residents remain without power. As of this morning and according to PowerOutage.US, 345,000 residents are still without electricity and although, the numbers are down from the initial 1.5 million customers who were without power last week, it remains an unacceptable number. In 2017, Puerto Rico was hit with Hurricane Maria, a category 5 storm that inflicted more damage to the island than any previous disaster in history. The biggest damage? The island’s electrical system.

Eighty percent of the island’s electrical system was damaged, leaving Puerto Ricans without power for months. The last house was not reconnected to the system until nearly a year later.

But Hurricane Maria didn’t destroy the electrical grid, it exposed it.

Many of the residents of Puerto Rico suffer from power outages regularly regardless of the weather conditions on the island.

"Those of us who live in the mountains are used to having our water and electricity go out every day," said Shamir Martinez, who lives in a rural area of the San Juan suburb of Bayamon. "Now, the whole country knows what we go through and nobody does anything."

The state-run Puerto Rico Electrical Power Authority (PREPA) owned and operated the power network on the island when Maria hit and it had faced criticism for its “inadequate investment in its power system and failure to establish back-ups to maintain power during disasters.” Due to its inadequacies, Puerto Rico - with the guidance of the US - privatized the grid by contracting LUMA energy to operate the system despite PREPA still owning the infrastructure. LUMA is a joint venture between Canadian energy firms and US energy contractor, Quanta Services PWR.N. And let’s just say, the new joint venture is not working for the island’s residents.

A study from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) found that service restoration times and voltage fluctuations increased after privatization largely due to a shortage of experienced workers. The island also endured a power outage in April that knocked out electricity for a third of homes and businesses.

After taking many years following Hurricane Maria, the Trump Administration approved about $9.6 billion in federal funds dedicated to strengthening Puerto Rico’s electrical grid. According to FEMA.gov, The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved nearly $600 million for the purchase of materials and equipment needed to rebuild Puerto Rico’s power grid back in June 2022.

But despite the approval of the funds, many analysts have stated there are bureaucratic holdups, policy disagreements, grid privatization and disputes on how to spend the funds have led to a lack of progress. The electrical grid project has been rebranded as a money opportunity and has moved away from the initial significant stance: to provide adequate and necessary power to the people of the island.

"Many enterprises, both for profits and NGOs, want a slice of the $12 billion in federal money for rebuilding the grid," said Sergio Marxuach, policy director of Puerto Rico-based think tank, Center for a New Economy (CNE).

While everyone is attempting a grab at the federal funding for the electrical power grid, Puerto Rico remains without substantial power.

Under the Puerto Rico Energy Public Policy Act, passed in 2019, the commonwealth is required to get 40% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025, 60% by 2040 and 100% by 2050, according to the EIA. However, the grid's modernization has also been delayed by policy disagreements over using renewables versus adding more natural gas, Marxuach said.

Puerto Rico has to import all its oil, coal and natural gas as it does not produce any fossil fuels. It does have solar and wind generation that has contributed to renewables generation. Coal-fired generation is planned for phase-out by 2028.

With its reliance on importing oil, coal and natural gas, Puerto Rico remains at the mercy of the US - yet again - due to The Jones Act put in place by President Woodrow Wilson. The Jones Act, also known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, is a form of ugly protectionism.

The law says waterborne cargo between U.S. points must be carried by ships that are primarily built, owned and crewed by Americans. This raises shipping prices, while shifting cargo to trucks, which are less efficient and worse for the environment. The law also explains why wintry Boston imports Russian liquefied natural gas.

With the increased need for diesel fuel - to power many generators on the island for residents, businesses, and hospitals - Puerto Rico is experiencing grid lock. Currently, idling off the island’s coast is a ship “that reportedly carries 300,000 barrels of diesel fuel from Texas. Yet, unloading that fuel is illegal without a Jones Act waiver.” And while local and federal officials have long called for a permanent appeal of the Jones Act, saying “it has driven up prices and crippled Puerto Rico’s economy.”

Governor Pedro Pierluisi of Puerto Rico asked Biden for a waiver limited to the shipment of petroleum-derived products and liquefied natural gas to at least nine specific ports around the island.

"This specifically targeted and temporary relief would allow Puerto Rico to diversity its fuel sources, ease supply constraints and mitigate the risk of a fuel shortage in the middle of the response to the emergency caused by Hurricane Fiona," he wrote.

Now, as always, Puerto Rico will wait at the mercy of the US to decide the fate of its people.