Puerto Rico’s Power Woes Are Decades in the Making
https://www.wsj.com/articles/puerto-ricos-power-woes-are-decades-in-the-making-1506176140
“”For years, Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority enjoyed easy access to bond markets and borrowed regularly, accumulating enormous debt. Yet it failed to make important capital investments, such as transitioning to natural gas from oil to generate power, analysts say. Analysts say the money went to a bloated payroll, among other things.””
Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority hands out free electricity to many. It includes the PR government that gets free electricity. I would assume the PR Government Bureaucrats work in air-conditioned offices while the rest of the folks on the island swelter
“””The utility is economically tied down by 392 million dollars in annual subsidies it is forced to give by virtue of legislation. These include subsidies for churches and other non-profit institutions (three million dollars), the tourism industry (nine million), agriculture (oine million), rural electrification and irrigation (six million), and small businesses (less than one million).
But these pale in comparison to the 261 million dollars given to municipalities, known as the CELI subsidy, 17 million for the 2008 Industrial Incentives Act, and 35 million to subsidise the AAA water utility. These last three comprise 80 percent of all subsidies given out by PREPA.”””
http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/04/debt-dirty-energy-weigh-heavy-puerto-ricos-utility/