Washington, D.C. residents may be familiar with the debate over the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) in the wake of the devastation of hurricane Maria. Increasingly, it resembles the ongoing debate over Washington, D.C.’s Metrorail system. Both are fundamentally flawed, terribly mismanaged, highly consequential pieces of American infrastructure.
But while Metrorail will likely never be fully fixed — it was built without the third set of tracks necessary for a highly functioning rail system — Puerto Rico’s power grid and delivery system could be fixed and improved. In fact, such an improvement could actually become the long-term silver lining of a heart-rending natural disaster.
Tragedy can bring opportunity, also known as a tremendous windfall of federal dollars. For the people of Puerto Rico, financial federal relief efforts could mean escape from the decades-long tyranny of their sole energy provider. The island has relied on one monster of a monopoly – PREPA – for power generation, transmission and distribution since the 1940s. This government-owned power company is something only a devout socialist could love, providing free power to all of Puerto Rico’s local and state government entities and facilities – and to a handful of for-profit businesses which we must assume are top-notch government cronies – but not to its citizens.
Decades of gross mismanagement and so-called “free power” for 78 municipalities eventually meant $9 billion in debt for PREPA. The company declared bankruptcy in July, just weeks before Maria wiped out Puerto Rico’s electricity, knocking an entire island state into the persistent, life-threatening darkness of total power outage.
Six weeks after the storm, still only about 30 percent of the island has power. The lack of diversification of power generation, transmission and distribution that was already problematic before the storm, is now deadly. And the inherent dysfunction continues.
While hospitals, grocery stores, and families wait for the power to return, PREPA has turned down a multitude of U.S. electricity companies that have offered to help, and instead awarded just one $300 million contract, to a tiny company based in Montana – Whitefish Energy Holdings, a subsidiary of COMFTRAFO Brazil. That eyebrow-raising contract, now rescinded, is still under investigation by the FBI.
Hurricane Maria was a killer, but she provided a blank slate to Puerto Rico that could be the beginning of a smarter, modern, more diverse and privatized energy future for the island. Since they are already sending billions in aid, Congress should partner with Puerto Rico’s government on comprehensive energy reform that includes full privatization of energy production (regulated by the Energy Commission) and opportunities for public-private partnerships (which bring private expertise and private capital).
There is precedent for natural disasters to provide fresh starts. Earthquakes in California and Alaska have been known to precipitate economic activity. Post-Maria redevelopment of Puerto Rico’s energy infrastructure can, and should, bring a diverse mix of providers and energy sources – natural gas, coal, renewables and oil – to a place that has been an energy hostage and then, consequently, an energy wasteland.
Not every flawed and mismanaged piece of public infrastructure can be reborn in this way. Sometimes there are alternatives. (thank you, Uber and Lyft, for giving Metro refugees in Washington, D.C. the options we needed!) But when it comes to electrical generation, a new start is the most desirable way forward. Puerto Rico has that opportunity; Congress and President Trump should help them achieve it.
Jean Card is a former speechwriter for the U.S. secretaries of Labor and Treasury as well as the attorney general. Follow her on Twitter: @JeanCard
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