Puerto Rico power company suspends $65M worth of maintenance projects, sparking outcry amid outages

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Puerto Rico power company suspends $65M worth of maintenance projects, sparking outcry amid outages

BY CORAL MURPHY MARCOS
Updated 4:46 PM EDT, June 24, 2024

AN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The private operator of Puerto Rico’s power grid confirmed Monday the deferral of $65 million worth of maintenance and improvement projects in the U.S. territory, with some repairs postponed for at least a year because of budget constraints, putting at risk the already troubled grid — and sparking a widespread outcry.

Some of the deferred projects include maintenance of more than 100,000 light posts, fire mitigation and repairs on underground circuits, among other improvements.

Luma Energy’s head of regulatory affairs, Mario Hurtado, told The Associated Press on Monday that the suspended projects, which he aims to bring back next year, risk more outages across the island.

“The risk is always that there will be more failures in terms of public lighting,” Hurtado said.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/puerto-rico-power-electricity-budget-outage-1fa186f46591945c922864dd719295fc

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Two weeks ago: Widespread outage hits Puerto Rico as customers demand ouster of private electric company (Associated Press)

[MattNC2021]

1. Just visited PR and we experienced a power outage...

It’s hard to see a US territory in such a state. When you don’t have reliable power, it excludes you from the digital economy. The heat was oppressive when we were without power.

It did give me appreciation for how spoiled we are.

[keithbvadu2]

2. Hurricane season is way less than a year away. No hurry, eh?