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Juggling to restore light service

On a day when the executive director of the Electric Power Authority (PREPA), José Ortiz, admitted that the Costa Sur power plant could take a year to start generating power, three Novoprogresist mayors expressed their discomfort with the way the official He handled the information regarding recovery work.

“What I would recommend to Mr. Ortiz is the following: never create expectations. Recognizing that you have a vulnerable system, it is preferable to set the stage just as you did. That way, everyone prepares (and) is not aware that this is going to take a week or 30 days. If it is resolved in less time, the better. But if you give people correct information, people go and prepare, ”said Bayamón Mayor Ramón Luis Rivera.

Early Tuesday, after registering an earthquake of magnitude 6.4 south of Guánica that paralyzed the electrical system, Ortiz anticipated that the metropolitan area would recover service before noon. However, late Wednesday night almost 60% of PREPA’s customers remained dark.

Also, on Tuesday afternoon the confusion reigned regarding the use of the new portable megagenerators installed in the Palo Seco plant. Although Governor Wanda Vázquez said that PREPA had turned on this machinery, later in the same press conference, Ortiz himself admitted that the information was incorrect.

“If we talk from the beginning with the truth, I think people are calmer. The information they gave me did not satisfy me. On that occasion, I don’t think (Ortiz) gave the right information, ”added Cataño municipal executive, Felix Delgado.

“Here from the beginning it should have been indicated that Costa Sur was out and will not be in service for the next few months. That information had to be given from day one by the engineer Ortiz. You give the information and people prepare and know what to expect. To the extent that you start to give time and date, then you will have a problem if you do not meet them because you believe some expectations, ”added the mayor of Guaynabo, Ángel Pérez, who along with Delgado and Rivera held a meeting yesterday in La Fortress with Governor Wanda Vázquez.

Off South Coast

In the afternoon yesterday, Ortiz acknowledged that the damage suffered by the Costa Sur generator will cause the plant, located in Guayanilla, will face a long repair process.

“The installation will be out of service, probably, for more than a year. We are losing 820 megawatts, between 25% and 30% of the generation on the island. Right now we don’t have EcoEleléctrica, which is 500 megawatts or AES, (which generates) almost 500, so we are in a difficult situation, ”Ortiz said in an interview with the American journalist David Begnaud.

In that same interview, since it was not available for MeterOrtiz estimated that in the weekend “most” of the clients could finally have the service.

According to PREPA’s project manager Fernando Padilla, at the moment the focus of the public corporation is to turn on all the remaining plants.

The official said he was confident that once the Ecoelectric and AES cogenerators come into operation, as well as the Aguirre combined cycle, the network will have enough energy to meet demand, which typically is around 2,300 megawatts.

At the close of this edition, around 600 thousand subscribers had a total service of 1.4 million customers for 42%.

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