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Puerto Rico disconnect

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This from PBS News Hour.

Puerto Ricos Power Struggles predate Hurricane Maria

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/puerto-ricos-power-struggles-predate-hurricane-maria/

http://player.pbs.org/viralplayer/3005457804/

Quote

Hurricane Maria destroyed Puerto Rico’s grid, but the U.S. territory's power provider was in deep financial trouble and known for neglecting outages before the storm struck last month. Jessica Resnick-Ault, a reporter with Reuters who investigated the bankrupt utility company, joins Hari Sreenivasan from Metairie, Louisiana, where she is reporting on Hurricane Nate.

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Seriously, after Texas & Florida got hit, there was a huge outpouring of support. State, local, federal, media, social media, sports figures, everything.

It was handled well.

After Puerto Rico got hit, the public response was non-existent.


Fortunately some private organizations are stepping up.
====================================
Solar competitors band together to help bring electricity to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico

Solar companies are banding together to help restore electricity to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico as 90 percent of the island's 3.5 million residents remain without power.

Solar supplies such as roofing, generators and tent shelters worth about $2 million are expected to arrive in the territory in the coming weeks.

Tucker Higgins
CNBC.com

Solar companies are banding together to help restore electricity to parts of storm-ravaged Puerto Rico as 90 percent of the island's 3.5 million residents remain without power.

Solar supplies such as roofing, generators and lighting equipment worth about $2 million are expected to arrive in the territory in the coming weeks.

Most of that aid is coming from a national solar industry group, which is sending a plane to Puerto Rico with $1.2 million in supplies donated by its members. The Solar Energy Industries Association is "putting together people that have product with people that have money," the group's president, Abigail Ross Hopper, told CNBC.

More aid is coming from a new group called Light Up Puerto Rico that was formed in the days after Hurricane Maria tore through the island. Light Up Puerto Rico will send about $700,000 in supplies by Oct. 15, the group said. Light Up Puerto Rico is led by two Puerto Ricans, Jorge and Carilu Alvarado, whose local connections will allow the group to distribute aid efficiently, according to Jarem Hallows, who is working with the organization.

Hopper said solar will be particularly useful in Puerto Rico because it can begin powering homes and businesses before the territory is able to rebuild its electric grid, a project that could take months. In the meantime, solar generators can serve as a stop gap that won't require costly diesel.

"Everything is needed down there, but we are trying to help out in a unique way," said Brad Creer, president of New Star Solar.

Creer is working with Light Up Puerto Rico and Tifie Humanitarian, a nonprofit, to provide solar equipment for rural areas of the island, such as Aguas Buenas, Salinas, Naranjito, Aguadilla, Las Marias and Mayaguez.

The effort to bring solar supplies to Puerto Rico is bringing together companies that are traditional competitors, such as Vivint Solar and Sunrun. While in normal times the two companies compete for market share, the crisis in Puerto Rico created an opportunity for the two national solar providers to cooperate.

For instance, after Sunrun pledged more than 8,000 pounds of solar products but did not have the capacity to bring the materials to Puerto Rico securely, Vivint volunteered to get the shipment into San Juan. The details of the arrangement haven't been finalized.

"That's what's great to see: They're getting together; we are putting all our competition aside to do this," Creer said.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a solar entrepreneur better known for his work on electric vehicles and spacecraft, has also jumped into the fray, posting a message to his Twitter account Oct. 5 saying it would be feasible for Tesla to rebuild Puerto Rico's electric grid.

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello responded on the platform by saying that Puerto Rico could be Tesla's "flagship project." At a press conference the next day, Rossello said he was "very serious" about considering new, innovative technology.
===================

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Hard to believe that even Trump's efforts towards throwing paper towels at people didn't stop this:

====================================
Mudslide hits Puerto Rico neighborhood that Trump visited
By Bill Weir and Rachel Clarke, CNN
Mon October 16, 2017

Puerto Rico desperate for supplies, FEMA aid

Guaynabo, Puerto Rico (CNN) - Torrential rains washed away weeks of clean-up and brought new problems for Puerto Ricans on Monday.

A small creek a few miles outside of San Juan became a raging river, picking up trees, pipes and rubble from a mountainside where they had been dumped after Hurricane Maria. The debris added weight and force to a mudslide that took out a bridge in the Guaynabo neighborhood outside San Juan, stranding families who may now have to hike through mountainous, overgrown terrain to get food and water.

This is the working class part of the same neighborhood where President Trump tossed out rolls of paper towels earlier this month and then handed out lanterns, while telling people they did not need them any more.

Efrain Diaz saw the bridge tumble, and with it hopes for his business of restoring Corvettes. "Everything I've been struggling for all my life, all of a sudden is gone," he said. The trailer where he stored parts was tossed in the mudslide and some of his cars totaled.

He and his wife Luz have had no power since Maria hit the island on September 20, and have been spending their savings on gas for the generator to keep the refrigerator on and Luz's life-saving insulin fresh.

Diaz said he has seen no FEMA staff and no distribution of food, fuel or fresh water since Maria came ashore nearly four weeks ago. When local mayor Angel Perez came by the neighborhood, Luz accused him of forgetting about them. "We need water," she told him.
======================

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One more reason to get assistance to Puerto Rico soon.

Pharmacuticals.

There are a number of fairly important drugs that are manufactured ONLY in PR.

Both for humans and animals.

And they aren't being made right now.
"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

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Whats the deal here? No single resource can handle it, therefore a couple guys with the knowledge forms a company that says they will round up resources from many companies to do the work, and bids the job. Why the mystery about two guys? They are the construction manager handling sub contractors...They will skim and pocket. And if they are part of a union thats where all the workers will come from. Also they were the only company willing to start work now before payment. On top of that they were hired directly by the PR power authority not trump or FEMA. These guys are taking a huge risk on getting full payment.


This happens every time there is a hurricane in the US right? One single power entity is in control, and subs out to many other contractors. I have seen images of football fields of many different power companies in a staging area ready to be deployed to the field once the wind has settled.

Anyone have proof this is a conspiracy or should we put the tin foil hats away?

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Blacksmith311

Whats the deal here? No single resource can handle it, therefore a couple guys with the knowledge forms a company that says they will round up resources from many companies to do the work, and bids the job. Why the mystery about two guys? They are the contractor handling sub contractors...

This happens every time there is a hurricane in the US right? One single power entity is in control, and subs out to many other contractors. I have seen images of football fields of many different power companies in a staging area ready to be deployed to the field once the wind has settled.

Anyone have proof this is a conspiracy or should we put the tin foil hats away?




Conspiracy? No one said that word. Bid on? This is a no bid contract. Going to friends. Do you get it now?
Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

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Their previous largest contract was 1.4 million dollars on a contract that they just won and have not even completed yet.

John, the photos you see of all the trucks are because the power utilities share resources and in essence loan out the linemen for free. This is done with the understanding that if events require it other utilities will lend assistance to help them in their time of need. Midwest companies send south for the hurricanes and the southern companies send north to help out in the winter ice storms.

This lending is still occurring with PR but this contract is to basically recreate most of the lines and grid. This is not just a "install a 100 poles and restring the wires job" that can be done in a few days or a week - this is a massive project that will require thousands of skill workers and all the back office things like HR, Payroll, accounting, IT, etc. That is not something that is typically a spin up as you need it function.
Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

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Hey all. PR local here, now homeless :D
Only read the first 2 pages and saw a lot of disinformation!
Stop believing the news, ask a local.

Regarding the lack of response the first week or so, there were enough available truck drivers...but the military confiscated all the diesel and FEMA wasnt letting go the supplies.

About the people situation now, 35 days later, 90% of the work is being done by local and abroad volunteers. There are still communities uncommunicated behind mudslides and blocked roads, almost everyday families are reached by volunteers and they are the first contact/help from the outside. If volunteers with limited resources are reaching more people and saving more lives than the biggest mililitary and the most powerfull man in the world, they are not doing their best or they suck at helping. One example of hundreds: 4 days ago I was with a group of 40-50 people and 1 digger and I filled the gas tank of my chainsaw 35 times clearing the road for 14-15 families that were trapped in the mountains. This was less than 20 minutes away from 3 ARMY bulldozers parked in the shade.

About the Whitefish contract. A $300M+ contract was given under the table without auctioning to an inexperienced company, when another company couldve done the job for half the price, in a moment when the island is broke and destroyed and that money could be used for other important things. Is like: 'I have never done it, but I'll wash your car for $100, other people with experience can do it for $25, but Im your friend!' The fact that this company is linked to some polititians raises a big flag for people with half a brain.

Heres how it is so far:
Local goverment: D-
Trump: F
FEMA: D
Military: C
Community/local volunteers: A
Veterans/abroad volunteers: A++

On a personal note: House 96% gone (the bathroom survived :P) I applied for FEMA assistance on Sept 30, they still have not assigned me an inspector. Is OK cuz Im staying with family, but there are thousands of people with nowhere to go that have not receive 1 bottle of water a month+ after Maria.

HISPA #93
DS #419.5


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Sorry, your firsthand report is politically incorrect! The politically correct version is that FEMA is awesome, Trump is great and all the problems in Puerto Rico are due to the lazy locals. Especially those truck drivers who went on strike and refused to show up for work, and that mayor who has the gall to criticize the FEMA response.

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Sorry, you got that backwards! FEMA is great, Trump is awesome...but yeah we are lazy :D

Check out this one from last week. A group of USA volunteers, I beleive from Florida, raised funds, charted a plane for $8000 and filled it with pallets of water. They were at SIG waiting for the delayed plane to land and found out later it was already parked at another hangar. When they got there FEMA had already unloaded the plane and had all the stolen pallets in the FEMA truck. The volunteers had to block the truck with the help of NatGuard and after some screaming they got FEMA to give back the water. They have a warehouse filled with supplies, food and water...I dont know what they are waiting for, probably their favorite polititian with a camera. You go there asking for supplies to distribute, and after a lot of paper work they give you 5 cases of water, when you have space, time, and volunteers to take and distribute 10 pallets.

HISPA #93
DS #419.5


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My house was in Arecibo, wooden house on the beach. You can imagine whats left :ph34r: Im in the south of San Juan now, parents home.

Some mayors are doing an OK job, when I say local goverment I mean the governor and his close team. Following all the stupid federal burocracy they are getting nothing done. Thats ok for the first week or whatever till they assimilate the hit, but a month later they are still scratching their heads.

HISPA #93
DS #419.5


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normiss

Contract to restore power for $300 MILLION goes to...major company with TWO employees
Smells fishy to me.



It’s like the story of the two diplomats. One from Southeast Asia the other from Africa. The African visited the asian at his beautiful home and asked how he was able to afford such a nice place. The asian took him to his balcony and pointed to a large new bridge. “10 percent.” “I reward the international aid contract and take ten percent.”
The asian minister visited the african minister and marveled at his palatial estate so the african minister took him to his balcony and pointed out the new bridge. The asian said he saw no bridge. The african responded... “100 percent.”

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yeyo



About the Whitefish contract. A $300M+ contract was given under the table without auctioning to an inexperienced company, when another company couldve done the job for half the price, in a moment when the island is broke and destroyed and that money could be used for other important things. Is like: 'I have never done it, but I'll wash your car for $100, other people with experience can do it for $25, but Im your friend!' The fact that this company is linked to some polititians raises a big flag for people with half a brain.
.



"A deal reached between the government and a small Montana energy company located in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's hometown prohibits the government from reviewing labor costs or profits related to the company's relief efforts in Puerto Rico, according to a leaked copy of the contract."
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/357473-whitefish-energy-contract-bars-government-from-auditing-deal

and from FOX News:
"President Trump isn't responsible for Puerto Rico’s decades of corruption and collapse

If any good is to come out of the devastation of Hurricane Maria, perhaps it will be that Americans learn that political corruption fed by high taxes and a bloated bureaucracy is a toxic combination. This is not Venezuela. This is a U.S. territory, and a struggling neighbor, which needs our help and a serious economic reboot."
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/10/03/president-trump-isnt-responsible-for-puerto-rico-s-decades-corruption-and-collapse.html

Too late, so SAD, the contract has already been signed:D:D:D.

"“Based on initial review and information from PREPA, FEMA has significant concerns with how PREPA procured this contract and has not confirmed whether the contract prices are reasonable,” FEMA said in its statement.

“FEMA is presently engaged with PREPA and its legal counsel to obtain information about the contract and contracting process, including how the contract was procured and how PREPA determined the contract prices were reasonable.”
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/357486-fema-has-significant-concerns-with-puerto-ricos-300m-power

Just trump's idea of draining the swamp.

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The full text of the Whitefish contract is now publicly available, so all of its terms can finally be assessed. ...
Here's What's In That $300 Million Whitefish Contract

The contract shows those labor rates are pricey indeed: $240 an hour for a general foreman and $227 for a lineman. The per diems are also expensive: almost $80 a day for meals, and $332 a day for lodging. Employee flights are billed at $1,000 each way.

For subcontractors, the bulk of Whitefish's workforce, the prices go even higher. A general foreman costs $336 an hour and a lineman, $319.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/27/560422492/heres-what-s-in-that-300-million-whitefish-contract

Journeyman Lineman Salaries in the United States
Salary estimated from 1,125 employees, users, and past and present job advertisements on Indeed in the past 12 months. Last updated: October 26, 2017

Average salary $39.02 per hour
https://www.indeed.com/salaries/Journeyman-Lineman-Salaries

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Iago

***The full text of the Whitefish contract is now publicly available, so all of its terms can finally be assessed. ...
Here's What's In That $300 Million Whitefish Contract

The contract shows those labor rates are pricey indeed: $240 an hour for a general foreman and $227 for a lineman. The per diems are also expensive: almost $80 a day for meals, and $332 a day for lodging. Employee flights are billed at $1,000 each way.

For subcontractors, the bulk of Whitefish's workforce, the prices go even higher. A general foreman costs $336 an hour and a lineman, $319.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/27/560422492/heres-what-s-in-that-300-million-whitefish-contract

Journeyman Lineman Salaries in the United States
Salary estimated from 1,125 employees, users, and past and present job advertisements on Indeed in the past 12 months. Last updated: October 26, 2017

Average salary $39.02 per hour
https://www.indeed.com/salaries/Journeyman-Lineman-Salaries



I'm pretty sure that these lineman aren't being paid anywhere close to forty an hour. With the skill set, experience, and risk associated with this type of work it would not surprise me if the individual average rate breaks a buck.

For certain the guys hanging from helicopters will get a premium. The link I posted shows a regular rate for journeymen to $80 an hour. But rebuilding the main transmission lines is a small part of the total job. Whitefish only had two employees at the time of the hurricane so its not like they are the ones in any safety harness. Certainly Whitefish isn't paying the linemen those rates. Thats the rates they are billing PREPA for each hour.

The statements that the CEO makes in the story you post

" The other contender: Power Secure wanted $25 million upfront to do the job.

But Techmanski wasn't asking PREPA for a down payment. Plus, the Whitefish CEO was agreeing to take care of the logistics -- lodging and food for the hundreds of journey linemen needed to restore power, according to Ramos.

After the hurricane hit, the state-owned utility could have requested aid through the American Public Power Association, a network that provides help to other utilities during widespread power outages.

But the closest states to Puerto Rico were already dealing with their own rebuilding efforts after hurricanes Harvey and Irma, Ramos told CNN on Thursday. And he believed they would not be able to respond quickly to the island's needs.

The bankrupt utility, which was wrestling with $9 billion in debt, also couldn't afford to cover the costs of utilizing the network either, he said."

Make no sense. Its irrelevant that " PREPA's Ramos says PREPA is in receivership." Court protection allows new work to be exempted from any creditors. FEMA and the US army corps of engineers should have been involved as well.

That a two man corporation is going to organize a $300 million dollar contract better than an effort through the "American Public Power Association" is a lie.

That ID, CO, UT, doesn't have linemen in existing power companies with mountain experience defies belief. In addition most of the work is going to be old fashioned bucket truck work on the hundreds of miles of down lines.

If PREPA didn't have the $25 million to upfront a competitors bid they could have gone to the receivership judge for a order to free up the money.

I agree with the substance of your post. This just dosn't meet any smell test. It smells like a newly opened freezer in a meat store in PR that hasn't had power since the hurricane.

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> You can get the work done (1) Fast, (2) Well, or (3) Cheap

or 4) without getting embroiled in a big fraud case. 4) is pretty worthwhile, because once you get involved in that fraud case, things definitely are NOT going to be fast, or cheap, or done well.

It's a decision most business owners make. Use the guy who uses illegal immigrants and has an "in" with the current mayor? Or use the guy who is slightly more expensive? Might make sense to use the more expensive guy - because mayors on the take have a tendency to get caught, and then everyone involved loses.

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>I must have missed something about fraud being involved. You must know something the rest of us do not.

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Friday that it had “significant concerns” over PREPA’s decision to award Whitefish the contract earlier this month and would be conducting a review."

FEMA probably knows more than you or I about it. And of course members from both political parties in the House are launching their own investigation. Puerto Rico is wise to steer well clear of this potential mess.

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This is one of those cases where the appearance of wrong really is probably enough. The governor is under plenty of pressure to GET IT DONE. Fast is probably #1, cheap is #2, quality if #3 (there's always one primary). Like any good organization person, he knows that having contacts helps, he just doesn't think it through who those contacts are because of the time and other pressures.

Best long-term bet might be to train locals in the trades so that the infrastructure can be rebuilt, using locals who will be spending the money right there. That'd take 50 years, an unacceptable period.

There won't be a right company for this. The good ones are in Texas and Florida, where the payments are on time, and the challenges smaller, so they look better. There's only a least-bad company, because someone, somewhere, will find something to object to that's very reasonable to object to.

Wendy P.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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>This is going to set things back by weeks, if not months.

But may well mean they get service back sooner in the long term. Whitefish is now under investigation by the FBI. Imagine how royally screwed Puerto Rico would be if they got 3/4 of the way through the project before their assets were seized by the FBI as part of a criminal investigation.

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