![]() ![]() LUMA is at the center of many controversies. PREPA continued to generate electricity, but LUMA Energy, a U.S.-Canadian consortium, received a 15-year contract to transmit and deliver power to customers. In 2021, Puerto Rico’s government and the financial control board privatized power delivery on the island. This left PREPA with limited resources to prepare for Hurricane Maria or make repairs afterward. Alejandro García Padilla and Puerto Rico’s Financial Oversight and Management Board imposed austerity policies in 2012-2017 that subsequent governors have kept in place. For example, in 2011, then-Speaker of the House Jennifer González legislated for the company to obtain a line of credit from the Banco Gubernamental de Fomento in order to reduce power bills ahead of the 2012 elections. PREPA took on significant debt, often at the request of elected officials. Patronage and party politics often influenced the company’s hiring, contracting and financial decisions. Many interests coalesced around PREPA, including elected officials, labor unions, the domestic oil importers and, most importantly, the Puerto Rican public. Yet Puerto Ricans still face daily challenges in obtaining affordable and efficient electricity services.ĭamage from Hurricane Fiona, which dropped over 30 inches of rain on Puerto Rico, has set back post-Hurricane Maria recovery efforts. In less than a century, Puerto Rico’s electricity system has gone full circle from private provision of electric power to a state-led effort to democratize access to power, and then back to a public-private partnership with a strong neoliberal ethos. Suárez Carrasquillo, Associate Instructional Professor, Political Science, Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida ![]() Failed promises from privatizationĬarlos A. They explain some of the factors that have hindered efforts to recover from Maria and prepare for subsequent storms on this island with a population of 3.2 million people. Suárez and Fernando Tormos-Aponte are social scientists who study Latin American politics and environmental justice. Rebuilding it has been hampered by technical, political and financial challenges.Ĭarlos A. Maria caused extensive damage to Puerto Rico’s power grid in 2017 that left many residents without electricity for months. Five years after Hurricane Maria wreaked havoc on Puerto Rico, Hurricane Fiona has killed at least four people, caused widespread flooding and left hundreds of thousands of residents without water or power. ![]()
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