Puerto Rican Energy Policy

NomadLawyer wrote:

To get the ball rolling, would the natural gas pipeline that was proposed under the Fortuno administration have helped? I'm referring to the so-called Via Verde project. If it would not have helped, what other alternatives are there to counteract PR's insane electricity prices while benefiting the environment?

I'm not an expert on this, but the Via Verde project was fiercely opposed by environmental groups and would have negatively affected a very ecologically sensitive & important region of Puerto Rico (the northern karst) - including for ecological services such as freshwater production. Since natural gas would have to be shipped to Puerto Rico in liquefied form (rather than piped from the source, as in the U.S. & Europe), this is also unlikely to have lowered the price of electricity substantially.

I have heard (secondhand) that is can be very difficult to get home solar panel arrays on the grid. This should obviously be a priority!

In addition, a lot of the high price (and high debt of PREPA) is due to the fact that many customers on the grid legally pay nothing or at a highly subsidized rate. Evidently this includes all municipalities and some commercial consumers, such as hotels. Paying nothing means these customers are also not motivated to conserve, which drives up consumption.

On the other hand, I also heard that there is actually too much supply. This is because the production infrastructure was build in a period of high economic growth which subsequently stalled or reversed. Having capacity that exceeds demand (in a monopoly) also increases prices. Consequently, some power plants probably need to be decommissioned to lower costs as well.

So if we have excessive capacity, what is causing the sporadic power outages?

It's being held together by bubble gum and paper clips and ancient materials.

GreggK wrote:

It's being held together by bubble gum and paper clips and ancient materials.

LOL

I am afraid that there not easy answers, Solar would likely mean bit time deforestation, which is not going to help with the drought. Propeller based wind farms means ugly skyline, some deforestation, and a propeller likely thru somebody's wall in the event of a hurricane.

Nothing is easy.

I think the unifying theory in energy policy throughout the globe is that there is no single solution.  Several different methods of power generation have to be utilized to meet growing demand.  Coal is on its way out because it creates too many pollutants.  Burning fuel oil is also quite dirty.  Gas is difficult to transport economically over the water.  Solar's efficiency still isn't to a point where its viable everywhere.  Wind power requires a lot of upfront capital, kills a lot of birds and isn't the prettiest thing to see.  Nuclear power has been killed by regulation and safety concerns.

It sounds like the local opposition for your pipeline centered on where the pipeline would be rather than using a pipeline VS other methods of transportation.  While sensitive areas may have been disturbed, pipelines are exponentially safer than using LNG ships, trucks or oil tankers.  It is more a matter of what lobbying group wins out.  Those who want to protect the shore and ocean VS those who want to preserve the rain forest.

From what I have read, Puerto Rico has limited electrical generating capacity for the expected growth.  The key metric is peak capacity because electricity can't effectively be stored.  You have to create infrastructure for future peak capacity many years in advance because the lead time to build power plants is so long before they come online.  It complicates matters if you have coal fired plants that should be retired as well, as is the case in many places in the US.  If this is true, PR needs to focus on shifting usage to non-peak periods until another power source (like a new plant, large scale wind or solar) can be utilized.  For example, as I mentioned elsewhere, this favors electric cars because much of the charging takes place overnight, during off peak hours when there is excess generating capacity.

It is very odd that commercial users would be subsidized at the expense of consumers.  Many places in the US with peak load issues offer commercial users lower rates in exchange for them agreeing to cut usage during peak period voluntarily.  Many plans for electricity offer "free or reduced rate" nights and weekend power usage for consumers as well.  Obviously, you have to use an advanced "smart" computerized electrical meter to get rates like this.  Maybe that's the case with these commercial users.  IMO, everyone should pull their own weight, but I understand that government run utilities will offer lower rates to government entities.

Here is a nice story explaining:

(1) What Puerto Rican consumers pay per kWh compared to other U.S. states & territories (still less than Hawaii, and comparable to some other states).

(2) That capacity in PR is 50% greater than necessary. This means plants still idle but this is still infrastructure that needs to be maintained, which passes cost to the consumer.

(3) Just because the capacity is high, doesn't mean the infrastructure is good. Some of the plants are very old.

(4) Many consumers legally pay little or not at all - effectively being subsidized by dept or by other consumers.

http://www.npr.org/2015/05/07/403291009 … pling-debt

I should add that we had no problems in PR in the San Juan urban area with power (aside from slightly higher bills - but still lower overall than in the U.S. where we used more public utility for heating).

I find this a bit of a funny situation, the infrastructure in PR for electricity apparently is being held with chewing gum, on average people are paying 21 to 23 cents per kWh. As I understand prices for electricity may be going even higher soon.

In contrast, a good chunk of similar power services in the US are in very good shape and and on average people pay around 21 cents per kWh which is about 1/2 of what you pay in PR.

I like your opinion on this article. In Armenia, there are demonstrations because the government is raising the price of electricity by about 44%, that is a LOT. However, after the price raise the cost per kWH there will be the equivalent of ONE PENNY US.

See abcnews link :http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/thousands-protest-electricity-prices-hike-armenia-31946251

FYI - I pay about 11 cents per KWH in Dallas after all fees, taxes and everything else is added in.

I find this a bit of a funny situation... You stated; "on average people are paying 21 to 23 cents per kWh..."

Then, you go on to say... "In contrast, a good chunk of similar power services in the US are in very good shape and and on average people pay around 21 cents per kWh which is about 1/2 of what you pay in PR."

21-23, then in the US they're paying 21/Kwh... which is half of 21 to 23?

Seems I had a typo, reporting with corrections:
I find this a bit of a funny situation, the infrastructure in PR for electricity apparently is being held up with chewing gum and paper clips, on average people are paying 21 to 23 cents per kWh for such mess and sporadic outages. As I understand prices for electricity may be going even higher soon.

In contrast, a good chunk of similar power services in the US are in very good shape and and on average people pay around 11 to 13 cents per kWh which is about 1/2 of what you pay in PR.

I like your opinion on this article. In Armenia, there are demonstrations because the government is raising the price of electricity by about 44%, that is a LOT. However, after the price raise the cost per kWH there will be the equivalent of ONE PENNY US.

Why PR is paying so much is the next question, in whose pocket is the money ending?

See abcnews link :http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/thousands-protest-electricity-prices-hike-armenia-31946251

You hit the nail on the head: Who's pocket is all this money going in to? Now, they are going to raise the bills another 40+%, JUST as the water "authority" has done...  This is, as they say, for "environmental compliance", now we see that the beaches around Western PR are contaminated, (From Rincon, to Isabela) with "unacceptable levels" of human fecal bacteria!?

mac00677 wrote:

You hit the nail on the head: Who's pocket is all this money going in to? Now, they are going to raise the bills another 40+%, JUST as the water "authority" has done...  This is, as they say, for "environmental compliance", now we see that the beaches around Western PR are contaminated, (From Rincon, to Isabela) with "unacceptable levels" of human fecal bacteria!?

If they are going to raise the electric bill another 40+%, which happens to be the most expensive thing in PR, we may see BIG demonstrations like the ones in Armenia. Puerto Ricans are not shy people, they may just blow.

I don't see the point of raising the water specially when you are only allowing people to get it every 3 days and the dark waters are not being reprocessed and instead being dumped in the ocean. Maybe they plan to pay big G, more for the rain?

We may see another "Grito de Lares" but for a different reason. It would not surprise me.

On a separate note: We have a big sea surrounding the island. I am not sure if somebody had consider that. There has been studies and prototypes of using the waves of the sea to create electricity, this has very minor effect on the environment and is very clean. A lot better than burning oil, Gas, garbage or charcoal to produce electricity.

As for the water problem, what about running desalination systems and dumping the fresh water output into the reservoirs? I think there are many countries that run desalination systems and if the government can get the electricity from the waves to power them, that would be grand.

What do you think?
Would Waves generated power and desalination plants help?

I heard about the possibility of solar, but that would require heavy deforestation which would make the water problem worst. I also heard about wind power, but I am not sure the island wants to put up a bunch of ugly propellers around the island and it will require some deforestation.

I think desalination plants is a great idea, ReyP!