Global Poletrusion Group Corp. (GPGC)

[makinezmoney]

$GPGC: FEMA ordering Utility Poles

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2017/10/13/puerto-rico-needs-50000-utility-poles/#48080b383d84


**************************************************


Puerto Rico Needs 50,000 Utility Poles




On Sept. 20 at 10:50 a.m. EDT (14:50 UTC) NASA's Terra satellite captured this visible image of Hurricane Maria as it was ravaging Puerto Rico and the other islands in its path.
Rebuilding the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s electric grid will require over 50,000 utility poles. With enough cable to stretch from San Diego to Boston and back. And then some.

Hurricane Maria made a direct hit on the island as a Category 4 hurricane on September 20th with winds up to 155 mph. The 3.4 million United States citizens that live on Puerto Rico have had little or no power since then. Along with almost no drinking water and food, the situation is dire.

Work crews from the public power utility in Jacksonville, Florida, and the New York Power Authority, are now in Puerto Rico working with PREPA to assess the damage and determine the repairs needed to restore the grid. That includes electricity generating facilities, transmission lines and substations. The New York crews have completed assessment work on approximately 120 substations on the island.


Only about 16% of these Americans have power, according to the Department of Energy. Working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, it could take 6 months or more to restore power to normal.

RICARDO ARDUENGO/AFP/Getty
Hurricane Maria destroyed the electric grid in Puerto Rico mainly by destroying the power lines, almost all of which are above-ground.
Maria destroyed so much on the island, but the main hit to the electric grid came from the destruction of most of the transmission infrastructure, not the generation facilities. Before Hurricane Maria hit, Puerto Rico’s power mix was about 48% oil, 30% natural gas, and 18% coal, all imported at significant cost. There are less than 3% renewables.

The power in Puerto Rico is the most expensive electricity next to Hawaii, and one of the most carbon-intensive in America. Puerto Rico has been replacing coal and oil with natural gas, and has set a goal to be 20% renewable by 2035. But that will take a lot of investment.

But renewable systems are susceptible to extreme weather, especially on an island that cannot take advantage of surrounding grids like we can on the mainland. Many solar arrays on Puerto Rico made it through the storm fine, but many didn’t.

This is one reason why Director of Emergency Response and Recovery at DOE, Ken Buell, thinks it’s time to think about a total rebuild of the power system, not just a repair. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello, agrees, saying there is no way to fix the grid, it’s too dilapidated, adding that the grid was so feeble it would have collapsed even in a much weaker storm.

Judith Enck, former EPA Administrator for Region 2, said, ‘Even if you had a modest wind storm, people would typically lose power for days at a time.’

In fact, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority declared bankruptcy in July amid mounting maintenance problems, years-long battles with creditors, a shrinking workforce, 40-year-old power plants and frequent management turnover. So it was completely unprepared for Maria.

These systemic problems follow the overall bankrupt state of the Territory and the fleeing of qualified workers to the mainland. As many as 4,000 employees have left PREPA, in key jobs such as linemen, power plant operators and mechanics, exactly the kind of workers the utility couldn’t afford to lose.

The power system needs to be redesigned and built to withstand future Category 5 storms. That means things like putting the power lines underground - the few underground lines weathered Maria quite well – and making poles that can’t be subsurface out of high-strength concrete.

It also means installing power systems that are resistant to extreme weather events, like nuclear, especially small modular reactors. A set of SMRs, with distributed solar, could power the entire island cheaply and reliably, even with hurricanes. A new report this week from the Nuclear Innovation Alliance outlines ways to accelerate this process.

Puerto Rican solar arrays were pretty roughed up but can be emplaced to withstand fierce winds.

While efforts have been hampered by poor management and a sluggish federal response, the White House did increase the federal government’s share of costs to 100% for funding for debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance, for the next 180 days.

We could rebuild Puerto Rico into an energy leader and show how to build smartly for a specific geographic region with specific energy problems. Renewable investments, debt-forgiveness, government loan guarantees, whatever it takes to rebuild the infrastructure and give the island an optimal energy mix.

But we have to get them food and water first.

Post-post: If you want to help, the Hispanic Federation (www.hispanicfederation.org) is pledging to send 100% of donations directly to hurricane relief in Puerto Rico.

Dr. James Conca is an expert on energy, nuclear and dirty bombs, a planetary geologist, and a professional speaker. Follow him on Twitter @jimconca and see his book at Amazon.com


$GPGC