Politics and Utilities
For the past two months, we have been loosing power to the house regularly. We have had plenty of tropical storm action blowing harsh winds and dropping dozens of inches of rain on us here in Rincon and I have attributed the regular power outages to the weather conditions. Well, last night at poker, some of the local guys were talking about how much the power has been going out and why (power went out twice last night forcing our poker game to slow down and run on candle power).
A few of the guys said the reason the power is going out so much is because it is election time. I didn’t really understand, so I asked what the elections had to do with the utility company. They all agreed that every election season things go wrong, in this case, the electric company is having problems supplying power to Rincon. They continued to explain that the current mayor will announce that he has fixed the issues with the power company right before the election and that we will not have any more power outages. In short, the current government is making the power go out so they can look like champions and get more votes by saying they fixed it right before voting day.
I have to admit that election time is in November and Puerto Rico gets a lot of heavy weather systems, tropical storms and hurricanes in the months prior to election day. To me, logic dictates that the weather is the reason for the power problems in Rincon but what do I know about Puerto Rico? This country has its own way of doing things. What do you guys think?
September 25th, 2008 at 9:48 am
When we were talking with the current owner of the property about why it was taking so long to buy it, she said it was because of election season as well. Something about government employees with uncertainty in their jobs because of the possibility of a new governor?
But she also said that during election season, a lot of things that were put off, get done, like paving roads, more consistent trash pick-ups, etc, to show that things CAN get done…Things are definitely run much differently in PR…and seem to work in spite of, instead of because of, the system. But that’s what makes it interesting and exciting. Are you two voting in the US election or PR election?
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September 25th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
I don’t think the election has much to do with that, but probably the precaurious economic situation has meant the the preventive maintenance that had to be done like clearing brushes near the power lines is not been done. As you know the price of oil is in an all time high so spending dollars in maintenance is not a priority now.
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September 25th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Your poker pals might be right. Politics plays a large part in controlling everything you rely on, from utilities to infrastructure to the fact that until now, all ballots were printed only in Spanish. Mostly for the vote. Our property in Maunabo was supposed to have municipal water (AAA), and the tunnel/highway 53 extension project by 2002. They got 1 tunnel (“the tunnel to nowhere”?) which starts and stops in Maunabo! There is still no firm ETA (maybe 2009 for the water, 2012 for the highway), all due to POLITICS. (I’m still working on my coping mechanisms to help me accept this mindset before fall 2010, which is our ETA.) As you noted, this is a time of year when PR historically has power/water outage problems due to tropical storm activity. Politicians do take advantage of every opportunity, including disasters, to influence elections. I’ve lived in many different states and other countries, and I have never seen such political astuteness or awareness as exists in Puerto Rico. Everyone knows the tricks. Except for the very young, all Puerto Ricans are well-informed politically; it is a huge cultural thing. Politics is discussed frequently by Puerto Ricans at all levels. To fully understand the depth and breadth of politics in Puerto Rico, I would recommend you learn Spanish, read the papers and blogs in Spanish, and become a part of conversations everywhere you go. I know it’s not easy for everyone (e.g., my Steve), but if you plan to stay in PR for a few years, and want to understand all the cultural influences there, I would say this is a must. Or be married to a Puerto Rican who is willing to translate for you.
Fran
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September 25th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Also I may add that only the governor election has an impact on the executive composition of the AEE or AAA utilities, but the mayoral or legistative races have no consequences in them. On the other hand the trash pickup and paving are impacted by electoral politics since they are a concern of the Town’s mayor. And every town mayor is king within their municipality, so if the current one changes, the impact on the town’s government is great.
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September 25th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
What about all the new construction going on in Rincon, every where you look they are building another condo building, perhaps too much for such a small town?? Who knows…I did grow up in PR and I know that every where you went the abuelitos y padres were all talking about the island politics!
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September 27th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Uh… I read this article and I don’t see anything about you in there? What is the deal? are you asleep at the wheel down there?
http://www.surfline.com/surfnews/photo_bamp.cfm?id=18653
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November 3rd, 2008 at 2:19 am
This is a very cool nice blog, even for Puerto Ricans like me!… I want to add , the AEE is a government monopoly and the current government hasn’t been doing much to diversify our energy sources or even done good maintenance like cutting tree branches near poles etc!!! They have done nothing other than doubling our bills out of proportion, way higher than the adjustments for the FUEL prices…(I believe they are stealing money!) The latest AEE CHIEF just explained PUBLICLY that some insects were entering the “CONTADOR” or measuring device!! Supposedly they were causing short circuits that were producing even HIGHER BILLS to some customers… ONLY IN Puerto Rico!!! (Some UNIVERSITY of PR professor denied the possibility)…. THE AEE BOSS was fired or asked to go by the governor, but some clause in his contract was going to PAY HIM almost a MILLION DOLLARS if something like that happened! I believe close to $350 thousand will be paid and I believe this is all kind of planned!…. (This is the same guy that invented the PALO SECO PLANT FIRE near SJ was sabotage or terrorism and the FBI later denied it! It was proved it was bad maintenance)…. Our governor, Mr VILA, is acussed of 24 federal charges !… But the same corruption happens in USA …That’s why I predicted almost a year ago, that OIL PRICES were gonna be down sharply before the election! Like I didn’t knew REPUBLICANS control OIL prices and The price was fixed!…. ANOTHER PROOF!… Really LOVELY TRUTH!
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November 5th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
FreeBrain – I have heard from several locals that the electric company in PR is VERY crooked. Many peoples electric bills are nearly the same cost as their monthly rent. It’s incredibly ridiculous.
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November 6th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
So what’s a person to do??? I hate being held hostage by corruption and/or ineptitude. Steve wants to go large-scale solar with our future Maunabo home, but solar can only do so much. I believe AC and fridges/ freezers use the most energy in a home, and most solar systems can’t handle the load.
FreeBrain: I had read about the AEE boss several weeks ago and it was so hard to wrap my brain around such (planned?) incomptence. Fran
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November 6th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Fran, et al,
We are going to try to build a water micro-hydro electricity generator to be used in the river area of the property. I don’t think solar works very well in the mountainous areas due to the clouds and rain, but maybe that could at least be a supplement.
I also want to get off of gasoline…hybrid electric conversion maybe? Or sugar cane ethanol? We’re not sure. But in any case, the utilities including gas are like an addiction if you have no choice but to use them and make a corrupt system ever richer.
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November 7th, 2008 at 9:01 am
If you have access to propane you can get a propane refrigerator. They only use about 1 lb of fuel per day (not gallons) but 1 lb which is a little more than 1/4 gallon. Much cheaper than running a generator. You can also convert your generator to propane.
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November 9th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
WOW! I lived in PR all my life until 2006. I moved from THERE to San Diego! This is a very interesting blog, and I’ll keep looking around to see why did you guys end up in Rincon.
I know CA beaches suck, compared to my beautiful “playas” back home… enjoy life in Borinquen bella!
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November 11th, 2008 at 10:07 am
who won the race for mayor
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December 8th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
My daughter lives in Paseo Monaco in Bayamon. She is an optometry student there. She is having a problem with her electricity bills and I was wondering if anyone there could help direct me as to who in the governmet or power company can help. She lived in the same complex last year and her highest electric bill for a three bedroom aparrtment, with 3 people, was $160. She moved to a two bedroom apartment this year and she recieved a $800 bill in October. She has contacted the electric company to do an investigation and they have come back and said that the bill is correct, she just recieved another bill for October of 600$ for one month. There are only two people living in the apartment and they only run their air conditioners, 2 of them one in each bedroom, at night to be able to sleep. Several people in her class that leave at Paseo are having the same trouble one bill was $1000 for one month. However her neighbors have not had any difficuties and still have relatively low electric bills, under $200 a month. Is anyone having this same problem and does anyone have telephone numbers or names of people that could help with this situation.
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