Puerto Rico: Cuba East, and the bad news is, we already own it
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Inspired by an earlier post on Cuba’s achievement of net zero emissions, Burning Madolf passed along this nugget:
PR maybe worse. I just Googled has Puerto Rico solved their trash problem:
No, Puerto Rico has not solved its trash problem the island is currently facing a waste management crisis. Most of its 29 landfills are over capacity, violate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards.
They should start burning for energy.
BM’s comment reminded me that Puerto Rico’s power grid, like the rest of its government, has been of Third World status for decades, literally crammed with corruption and gross inefficiency, so I, too looked to Google for a summary of the problems. The AI answer is, in my experience, overly generous, but it will serve.
These are results for my question, “history of Puerto Rico's failed electrical infrastructure - has it ever been operated efficiently, and if so, when did it begin to deteriorate, and what were the causes thereof?
AI Overview
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico’s electrical infrastructure has a long history of systemic issues, transitioning from a period of expansion and relative stability to a state of chronic failure.
Efficiency and the "Golden Age"
Puerto Rico’s electrical system was considered relatively efficient and reliable during its era of rapid expansion in the mid-20th century.
1940s–1970s Expansion: Following the creation of the Puerto Rico Water Resources Authority (now PREPA) in 1941, the island aggressively electrified rural areas and built large-scale power plants.
Industrial Backbone: During the 1950s and 60s, the grid supported Puerto Rico’s transition to an industrial economy under "Operation Bootstrap," providing the reliable power necessary for manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.
Timeline of Deterioration
The decline was not sudden but a slow erosion that began decades before the 2017 hurricanes.
Early 1970s Design Flaws: A critical decision in 1970 to build major power plants on the south coast while 70% of the population lived in the north created a permanent vulnerability in the transmission lines.
1990s Stagnation: By the 1990s, PREPA had become a monopoly that struggled to keep pace with modern technology. Infrastructure began aging faster than it could be replaced.
2000s Fiscal Crisis: As Puerto Rico’s economy entered a recession in 2006, the maintenance budget for the grid was systematically cut to address burgeoning debt.
2016–2017 Collapse: PREPA effectively filed for bankruptcy in early 2017, just months before Hurricanes Irma and Maria decimated the already fragile and under-maintained system.
Primary Causes of Failure
The current state of the infrastructure is the result of a "perfect storm" of internal and external factors:
Aged Infrastructure: The average age of power plants in Puerto Rico is roughly 45 years, compared to the U.S. average of 18 years. Much of the equipment is beyond its intended lifespan.
Financial Mismanagement and Debt: PREPA accumulated over $9 billion in debt, leading to "discretionary" maintenance where critical tasks like trimming trees near power lines were neglected for years.
Political Interference: Leadership at PREPA changed frequently with political administrations (often every four years), preventing long-term strategic planning and favoring short-term "patches" over modernization.
Geographic Isolation: Unlike U.S. states, Puerto Rico cannot pull electricity from neighboring regions if a plant fails; it is a "power island" that must be entirely self-sufficient.
Corruption and Inefficiency: Audits have highlighted billions in wasteful spending on failed projects, such as the "Vía Verde" pipeline, and allegations of bribery in contracting.
Google provided a number of source citations - here’s just one, from ABC News, circa 2021…
How did Puerto Rico’s electric system become so chaotic? Experts weigh in
Blackout and brownouts are a part of daily life for Puerto Rico's citizens.
Puerto Rico has had a long history of instability with its electric system, even prior to the devastation Hurricane Maria wreaked in 2017, which left millions on the island without power for nearly a year.
'Perfect storm'
The combination of Luma's late response to failures in the transmission and distribution that have left thousands without power in the last months, and the weak infrastructure of the power plants has made Puerto Rico's electric service the worst among the U.S.' states and territories, experts say.
"Most of these power plants should have been decommissioned many years ago. But when you decommission something, you need to have something new," Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority former executive director Ricardo Ramos told ABC News.
PREPA's gas power plants are over 40 years old. The average lifespan of these power plants is about 20 years, according to one report by National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Ramos, who says he has worked in the energy industry all his life, told ABC News that the situation with Puerto Rico's power is the result of a "perfect storm" of failures that perpetuate the island's electricity woes.
PREPA's operational hurdles
Problems with electricity have been reported since PREPA was established in 1941, Ramos said.
In the1960's Puerto Rico began building power plants, but amid the island nation's industrial revolution plus a then-predicted business boom, those power plants were built larger than the country could manage.
"At that time, bunker type C oil was extremely cheap. So it was chosen to use that fuel in order to have a competitive, let's say, electricity tariff," Ramos told ABC News.
More businesses actually began leaving the island, and Puerto Rico ended up with a majority of its larger power plants located in the southern area of the island, while the most electric consumption has been in the north, Ramos said.
That has resulted in a complex geographical situation for the island's transmission and distribution, now managed by Luma, he said.
Prior to Luma's takeover on June 1, 2021, the government entity, PREPA, was in charge. Today, the government only owns the system that generates electricity while Luma oversees transmission and management.
Financial Problems
The mix of an expensive system, mismanagement and lack of maintenance drove PREPA into a more dire situation, according to energy financial expert, Tom Sanzillo.
Sanzillo is the director of financial analysis of the Institute of Energy and Economics and Financial Analysis, and is a former New York State comptroller.
"You can look at it as the misuse of the revenues that have come in from the ratepayers over a number of years," Sanzillo told ABC News.
Both Sanzillo and Ramos say that effective energy projects take time, can be complicated, and must include collaboration between key players from stakeholders to politicians.
"A power system is very hard to work on, decisions have to be made years prior," Sanzillo added.
In addition, financing energy projects involves a large amount of investment, he said, and that PREPA's investment came from the bond market and loans.
As the electric utility issued bonds to finance energy projects that typically take over six years to build, the island's politics got in the way.
"If you're changing the management every four years, and you already have, let's say, immediate bonds for a project, and the project doesn't exist, it can quickly become a mess," Ramos told ABC News.
"You have a combination of a system and disrepair and political mismanagement at the top of the agency, and you have a recipe for a real problem," Sanzillo from IEEFA said.
The island filed for bankruptcy in 2016 under Title 3 known as Puerto Rico's Oversight Management Economic Stability Act.
Bankruptcy proceedings are still underway, according to local media reports.
Amid Hurricane Maria's destruction, the Trump administration designated one of the biggest federal funds with nearly $10 billion for PREPA's reconstruction. As of today only $7.1 million has been disbursed, according to Puerto Rico's government.
Other citations lead to publications spewing the usual garbage: blame Trump (?), and turn to cheap, reliable solar energy, because yea, that’s the ticket! That’ll solve everything!
Morons.