Lights Go Off Again in Puerto Rico
A worker repairs ability lines in San Isidro, Puerto Rico. An outdated, aboveground ability grid coupled with a comparative shortage of utility workers take hobbled efforts to restore power in the territory. Mario Tama/Getty Images hibernate caption
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Mario Tama/Getty Images
A worker repairs power lines in San Isidro, Puerto Rico. An outdated, aboveground power grid coupled with a comparative shortage of utility workers have hobbled efforts to restore power in the territory.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Nearly a month after Hurricane Maria swept through Puerto Rico, almost lxxx percentage of the territory is still without power. While nobody expected a quick restoration of Puerto Rico'southward badly outdated power grid, officials have estimated that it could take at least half dozen months.
Puerto Rico'south slow restoration is in stark dissimilarity to Florida after Hurricane Irma striking.
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Within 24 hours, 20 pct of the power that had been knocked out past Hurricane Irma in Florida had been restored. Nearly half had been restored a day afterwards, and it only took a calendar week before more than than 95 percent of Floridians had their lights back on.
Puerto Rico was striking past Hurricane Irma, as well. Information technology wasn't a direct hit, but two-thirds of the territory lost power. And like Florida, more than than 95 percent of Puerto Ricans had power a calendar week afterwards.
Only different Florida, Puerto Rico was striking again shortly thereafter. And dissimilar Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Maria swept straight through Puerto Rico, this time knocking out power across the entire territory. An outdated, aboveground power grid coupled with a comparative shortage of utility workers have hobbled efforts to restore power.
Before the tempest
Puerto Rico'south ability grid — similar much of its public infrastructure — has lagged backside residual of the country. This point was exposed by Hurricane Irma, only the problem has existed for decades. Puerto Rico'south debt crisis has prevented much-needed improvements to power plants that are more a half-century erstwhile.
The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, which is owned by the government, has faced crippling debt and Puerto Ricans have been footing the beak. According to the U.Due south. Energy Information Assistants, electricity cost around 19.88 cents per kilowatt hour in Puerto Rico this year. That is well more than the national boilerplate of 13.22 cents, despite frequent service interruptions.
In July, PREPA filed for defalcation, just months afterward Puerto Rico every bit a whole did the same. 3 months later on, the territory at present must figure out how to pay an estimated bill of $five billion to restore its power grid.
During the storm
In add-on to beingness outdated, much of Puerto Rico's electrical infrastructure is aboveground and exposed to the elements. Potent winds and tree branches damaged power lines, manual towers and substations that were already weakened by Hurricane Irma less than two weeks earlier.
Hurricane Maria destroyed power lines across Puerto Rico, including these in Vega Alta. Hector Retmal/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
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Hector Retmal/AFP/Getty Images
Hurricane Maria destroyed power lines across Puerto Rico, including these in Vega Alta.
Hector Retmal/AFP/Getty Images
The result was a complete blackout — and a much tougher and costlier job for PREPA.
Maria left unsafe weather that prevented recovery efforts from beginning in earnest for almost a calendar week. The storm as well decimated communications and transportation infrastructure, causing farther difficulties in coordinating response efforts.
Later on the storm
Most a month after, problems still plague the recovery endeavor in Puerto Rico.
PREPA's financial crises meant information technology was slow to begin its response to the tempest, even considering the hazardous conditions left in Maria's wake. Information technology took more than a week for just five percent of power to be restored in Puerto Rico and well-nigh another week earlier any significant progress was made after that.
Manual line faults take occasionally wiped out progress. On Oct. 13, for instance, a fault caused the San Juan Power Establish to go offline, dropping the amount of ability restored in Puerto Rico from 17 percent to 9 percent. Information technology wasn't until four days later that the percentage of power restored was back over 17 per centum.
The number of people working to restore power in Puerto Rico is underwhelming compared with the response in Florida. Later on Irma, hundreds of public and individual electrical companies helped Florida and surrounding states recover. The Department of Energy estimated more than threescore,000 workers were deployed.
The number of companies helping out in Puerto Rico after Maria is besides comparatively small. PREPA'south inability to help cover the cost of their help means fewer companies are sending crews to the territory. The U.S. Ground forces Corps of Engineers has taken the lead on the project instead. The Corps said Wednesday that in that location were about 400 crews of three to five people working to restore power in Puerto Rico, including PREPA employees and a handful of public and individual companies. Some other 200 crews are expected to arrive side by side week.
Dorsum in 1989, Hurricane Hugo left Puerto Rico without power for six months. Information technology was slightly weaker when information technology fabricated landfall — a Category 3 to Maria's 4 — only still one of the worst storms in Puerto Rico'due south history. At present, virtually thirty years later on, there may be just minimal improvements in the time it will take to restore electricity to the territory.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Irma caused harm to Florida similar to Hurricane Wilma in 2005, 12 years earlier. The Department of Energy said this time around, Florida Power & Light restored power four times faster.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2017/10/20/558743790/why-its-so-hard-to-turn-the-lights-back-on-in-puerto
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