Puerto Rico will privatize its struggling state-owned power utility, Gov. Ricardo Rossello announced Monday, following decades of mismanagement and corruption and a halting response to Hurricane Maria.
Rossello’s decision to privatize the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority comes as nearly 30 percent of the authority’s customers on the island remain without electricity, more than four months after the hurricane.
“The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority has become a heavy burden on our people, who are now hostage to its poor service and high cost,” Rossello said Monday. “What we know today is the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority does not work and cannot continue to operate like this.”
“One of the greatest obstacles that has halted our opportunities for economic development is the deficient and obsolete system of generation and distribution of energy,” Rossello added.
He said the government will begin selling PREPA’s assets in the coming days, but the process of privatization will occur over 18 months.
PREPA, which is bankrupt, has been criticized especially for signing a $300 million contract with small Montana firm Whitefish Energy to restore the island’s power.
Ricardo Ramos resigned in November as executive director of PREPA, under pressure after the Whitefish deal, which was later canceled and subject to multiple investigations in Congress.
PREPA was failing before Maria hit and has been susceptible to political influence and corruption. It is responsible for $9 billion of Puerto Rico’s $73 billion debt load.
The power utility, heavily dependent on Venezuelan oil, has aging power plants and has not maintained its energy infrastructure. It has lost two-thirds of its workforce in the past three years, as residents migrate to the mainland U.S. to escape the island’s financial woes and stagnant economy.
Rossello said Monday he hopes a new, privatized system will generate 30 percent of its power from renewable energy sources.
