Puerto Rico's Electricity Crisis

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Luma energy is a private consortium of a Canadian and US company Atco and Quanta they came in were given very generous terms in a contract with the Puerto Rico government to take over distribution and transmission. Luma has been here now for about a year and a half. They had one year to study the system and officially took over last June. In that time there is documented evidence that the performance of the power grid in Puerto Rico has precipitously declined. The way that it was designed was perfect for where Puerto Rico was about 70 years ago more than 70 years ago.

Days after Ian, most Floridians now have their power back. Weeks after Fiona, more than 100,000 Puerto Rican households and businesses are still coping with blackouts and an outdated grid. The Washington Post’s Arelis Hernández explains.

This episode was produced by Amanda Lewellyn, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Paul Robert Mounsey, and hosted by Noel King.

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