Grid Devastation in Puerto Rico

Feb. 14, 2018
More than 350,000 customers remain without power in Puerto Rico five months after Hurricane Maria came through and devastated the island's power grid.

More than 350,000 customers remain without power in Puerto Rico five months after Hurricane Maria came through and devastated the island's power grid. However, that means that almost 80% have had their power restored due to the mutual aid from the mainland. Armies of bucket trucks and linemen have been deployed to the island over the past few months for the experience of a lifetime. Hard, hard work, for sure, to build electric infrastructure pretty much from scratch, but also rewarding, seeing citizens cheer as their electricity is restored.

With that experience has been the sights of the damage to the equipment and homes, one that these linemen will never forget. Western Area Power Administration has been sharing many photos on its Flickr account, and what follows here are some of the images of the damage workers faced when they arrived.

Photos and captions from WAPA/Flickr.

About the Author

Nikki Chandler | Group Editorial Director, Energy

Nikki has 28 years of experience as an award-winning business-to-business editor, with 23 years of it covering the electric utility industry. She started out as an editorial intern with T&D World while finishing her degree, then joined Mobile Radio Technology and RF Design magazines. She returned to T&D World as an online editor in 2002 and now leads the content for EnergyTech, Microgrid Knowledge and T&D World media brands and supports Endeavor’s energy events, Microgrid Knowledge and T&D World Live. She has contributed to several publications over the past 25 years, including Waste Age, Wireless Review, Power Electronics Technology, and Arkansas Times. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.S. in journalism from the University of Kansas.

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