SAN JUAN (Puerto Rico) — Officials have announced Monday that Puerto Rico’s reconstruction is moving forward nearly five years after Hurricane Maria devastated the territory.
Federal funds totaling more than $100 million were used to fund the first 15 reconstruction projects after Category 4 storm destroyed the old power grid in September 2017.
A few projects, including repairs to generation plant generators, were completed recently. In total, 216 reconstruction projects will be completed over the next eight year. Up to now, only emergency-related projects were completed.
Jose Baquero (federal disaster recovery coordinator, U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency) said that “this is probably the most significant project in Puerto Rico’s recent history.”
Starting this month, 22,000 streetlights will be fixed in five of the island’s 78 municipalities. These are Aguada and Guanica as well as Lajas and Luquillo, Maunabo and Luquillo. They were chosen based on crime rates, population, and tourism, and the condition of the streetlights there.
Puerto Rico’s power grid is currently experiencing outages, recent fires and explosions at substations, and reconstruction work coincides the start of hurricane season. This will be expected to again be unusually busy.
Gov. Pedro Pierluisi warned the grid that it might not be able to withstand another hurricane. A fire at a power plant caused an island-wide blackout, leaving some clients without power for several days.
He stated, “We recognize the system’s fragility; it’s still obsolete.”
The Electric Power Company of Puerto Rico, which holds $9 billion in public debt is still in trouble. This makes it the largest government agency. Although Puerto Rico has emerged from the most severe U.S. municipal bankruptcy, there are still some debt restructuring deals to be made, such as the one involving this power company.
Authorities claimed that the reconstruction projects would reduce the frequency of power outages, which have been frustrating many people living on the island with 3.2 million inhabitants. Many depend on emergency generators. Customers have also been affected by several increases in their power bills in recent months.
Pierluisi stated that “we know there is impatience to it being restructured, improved.” These projects take time, because we want it to be done well.
FEMA will approve 21 more of the 200+ reconstruction projects soon, according to officials. FEMA is also funding $650 million in equipment to support future projects, given the current security issues.
