These days, amid the many demands of the Puerto Rican people — for decent health care, education, and housing; for an end to the destruction and sale of our coastlines and protected lands; and for access to water in the midst of a brutal drought — the demand for control over our energy sources and distribution is gaining momentum.
The colonial and neoliberal process that is ravaging our archipelago has left us with a privatized and highly inefficient electric grid. This process was driven by the Fiscal Control Board, which in turn was imposed ten years ago by the U.S. Congress under the Obama administration to force the Puerto Rican people to pay vulture creditors for a public debt that is entirely illegal and odious.
Together with successive local government administrations — which act as lackeys of the invading imperialism — corrupt foreign companies have been imposed, coming with a single purpose: to rob the people.
And in recent weeks, the inefficiency and brazenness of mafia-style corruption have reached unimaginable levels. One example is Genera PR, the company tasked with supplying 60% of the energy source — methane gas — which, incidentally, violates our Renewable Energy Act. Its parent company, New Fortress, is bankrupt and cannot guarantee the delivery of the gas. But on top of that, Genera PR is in charge of operating power plants across the island, replacing oil and diesel with natural gas. Not only has it failed to operate these plants properly, but all its projects are behind schedule, it does not meet environmental requirements, and the plants under its care are constantly out of service due to malfunctions it cannot fix. This has caused great suffering for the people due to the constant power outages that result.
On top of that, there’s a massive scandal over the shady contracting for the temporary power needed while the generating units are supposedly repaired. The Electric Power Authority awarded a contract worth nearly $5.9 billion to the firm Power Expectations LLC and its partners to generate power temporarily. The problem is that the companies were fraudulent, and even the Fiscal Control Board itself canceled the contract.
But dear audience, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Nevertheless, it illustrates the terrible consequences of privatization — to which the people are reacting and demanding that the Electric Power Authority — the agency in charge of power generation and distribution that, in its early days, contributed so much to the archipelago’s progress by bringing light to even the most remote corners of our territory — return to public hands. Let it be a reformed, democratic, science-based agency, with representation from the people and responsive to their needs.
Reporting from Puerto Rico for Radio Clarín in Colombia, this is Berta Joubert-Ceci.
Spanish original: Por una energía a manos del pueblo, Struggle-La Lucha. Translation: Resumen Latinoamericano – English.
Join the Struggle-La Lucha Telegram channel