(3 Sep 2022)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4395169
ASSOCIATED PRESS
San Juan, Puerto Rico – 1 September 2022
1. Various of damaged fan and flags with signs against LUMA
HEADLINE: Puerto Ricans dump broken appliances over outages
2. Various of protesters in front of the Governor house
ANNOTATION: Puerto Ricans tired of constant power outages took their broken household appliances to the steps of San Juan's town hall.
3. Various protesters in front of the Governor house
ANNOTATION: Power fluctuations have fried costly appliances and forced them to find alternatives to keep food and life-saving medication cold.
4. Protesters moving a damaged freezer
ANNOTATION: Energy company LUMA says it is dealing with a power grid whose maintenance the local government neglected for decades,
5. Various of police line standing in front of the Governor house, damaged fan and flags with signs against energy company
ANNOTATION: that was razed by Hurricane Maria in September 2017.
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Pedro Cardona Roig, protester
"What we want today is to make visible the losses that people had due to the service interruptions by the Electricity Company (LUMA).
7. Various protesters moving a damaged freezer, man holding a damaged TV with a sign that reads (Spanish): "Pierluisi out"
UPSOUND (Spanish) Pedro Cardona Roig, protester
"What does it mean and quantify what it means to lose a television, a refrigerator, the food or the other equipment that people have been losing."
8. Various of man holding a damaged TV with a sign that reads "Pierluisi out", protesters
ANNOTATION: Luma said that it would increase response brigades by 25% in the next month.
9. Various of demonstrators in the streets
ANNOTATION: Meanwhile, Puerto Rico's Energy Bureau issued a report late last week.
10. Various man put a damaged TV with the other damaged devices, protest signs against LUMA company
ANNOTATION: This noted there's been an overall increase in the duration of outages per customer every month since January, lasting more than 21 hours at a time.
STORYLINE:
Puerto Ricans tired of constant power outages took their broken household appliances to the steps of San Juan's town hall on Thursday in yet another protest against the energy company.
The ongoing outages have angered many who note that power fluctuations have fried costly appliances and forced them to find alternatives to keep food and life-saving medication cold.
Puerto Rico's Energy Bureau has approved seven electricity rate increases so far this year at the request of Luma, the energy company.
Luma has stressed it is dealing with a power grid whose maintenance the local government neglected for decades and that was razed by Hurricane Maria in September 2017, with reconstruction efforts having started just months ago.
Prior to Luma, Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority, which is more than $9 billion in debt, managed the grid's transmission and distribution.
Late last month Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said the company would face consequences if it doesn't improve its service, although he didn't provide details of what action he would take.
Pierluisi's statement was a turnaround for a governor who had persistently defended the company ever since its contract began in June 2021.
Luma said that it would increase response brigades by 25% in the next month, remove vegetation covering 20 of the most critical transmission lines, increase inspections of substations, eight of which have caught on fire in the past year, and increase aerial inspections of remote transmission lines.
AP video by Alejandro Granadillo
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