Puerto Rico's Massive Blackout Underscores Island's Fragile Electrical System

More than 80 percent of Puerto Rico was once again left without power after a main north-south transmission line failed.
According to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), the island was left with only 18 percent power generation on Thursday. The capital San Juan and other major cities were plunged back into darkness.
As Vox noted, the blackout was another reminder of the island's painstaking recovery fifty days after Hurricane Maria struck. One resident said it was "hard not to feel discouraged" and called the massive power failure "one step forward and three steps back."
Incidentally, the 230-kilovolt transmission line was previously repaired by the controversial Montana energy firm Whitefish Energy, whose no-bid $300 million contract to fix the U.S. territory's power grid is under FBI investigation.
But in a statement to BuzzFeed News, the company denied culpability.
"None of the issues reported today with the outage have anything to do with the repairs Whitefish Energy performed," spokesperson Brandon Smulyan said.
The power went out about 11:30 a.m. local time and was repaired Thursday night, Ricardo Ramos Rodriguez, executive director of PREPA, told CNN.
Indeed, as of Friday Morning, about 43 percent of capacity has returned.
Tonight, in Puerto Rico. Day 50 after Maria https://t.co/LtVcTQSiFK— David Begnaud (@David Begnaud)1510273752.0
"It was a mechanical issue on the line, could have happened at any line," PREPA official Fernando Padilla explained. "It's being patrolled and repaired by PREPA."
The Sept. 20 Category 4 hurricane knocked out power throughout Puerto Rico leaving much of its 3.4 million residents without electricity.
The latest outage has extended the largest and longest blackout in American history and a reminder of Puerto Rico's continued power woes.
As Peter Fox-Penne wrote for the Conversation, "Almost half its generation was from old, very expensive oil-fired plants, resulting in prices about 22 cents per kilowatt hour, among the highest in the U.S. The island has several solar photovoltaic farms but gets about 46 percent of its power from oil and only about 3 percent from solar."
Resident Marianne Sanchez wrote on Instagram: "Sad to report that today, the little power that was already restored … collapsed. Once again the whole island is without power. Although it is expected to be restored late in the evening or tomorrow, this is a not too friendly reminder of how fragile our power system is."
President-elect Joe Biden is planning to cancel the controversial Keystone XL pipeline on the first day of his administration, a document reported by CBC on Sunday suggests.
- Construction Begins on Keystone XL Pipeline in Montana - EcoWatch ›
- Trump Approves Keystone XL Pipeline, Groups Vow 'The Fight Is ... ›
- Keystone XL Pipeline Construction to Forge Ahead During ... ›
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
California is bracing for rare January wildfires this week amid damaging Santa Ana winds coupled with unusually hot and dry winter weather.
- Bond Fire South of LA Forces 25,000 to Flee - EcoWatch ›
- 'Explosive' Southern California Lake Fire Spreads to 10,000 Acres ... ›
- 10 Wildfires Ignite Around Los Angeles in Unseasonable Wind and ... ›
Trending
By Jennifer Sass, Nsedu Obot Witherspoon, Dr. Philip J. Landrigan and Simon Strong
"Prevention is the cure for child/teen cancer." This is the welcoming statement on a website called 'TheReasonsWhy.Us', where families affected by childhood cancers can sign up for a landmark new study into the potential environmental causes.
Climate Crisis Will Shift Tropical Rain Belt and Create Food Insecurity for Billions, Study Finds
Nearly 1.6 million people in the southern part of Madagascar have faced food insecurity since 2016, experiencing one drought after another, the United Nations World Food Program reported.
- Half a Degree of Warming Makes a Big Difference to Global Food ... ›
- UN Warns of Impending Food Crisis - EcoWatch ›
- Global Hunger Is Increasing, New UN Report Finds - EcoWatch ›
By Monir Ghaedi
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to keep most of Europe on pause, the EU aims for a breakthrough in its space program. The continent is seeking more than just a self-sufficient space industry competitive with China and the U.S.; the industry must also fit into the European Green Deal.
European satellites continue to provide data on climate change.